Cambodia: Colonial Postcard Images

The postcard I bought for myself in Cambodia

As I discussed toward the end of my last post, Nicola Cooper analyzes French tourism trends in her book France in Indochina Colonial Encounters. She discovered colonial rhetoric in multiple advertisements for Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam) travel, while there is little tourism adverts for other former, and more settled, French colonies like Algeria (205). She suspects that a collective colonial amnesia exists in France about Indochina, as opposed to Algeria (205). The colonial buildings today evoke a sense of “a time lost” for many people, namely French as Cooper argues, and all over Siem Reap, one can buy postcards evoking this "romantic" colonial period. I still ask: What makes Indochina so romantic and exotic? Is it that it was so far? Far enough to forget an exploitative colonial legacy through aesthetically pleasing and picturesque landscape? 

I bought this postcard (right, above) of an old Cambodian colonial map while in Siem Reap in December 2009. The postcard is sprinkled with archetypal projected images of Cambodia, with elephants palm trees, and peasants. Indeed, the three Cambodians at the right of postcard are either peasant or great Apsara dancers--still what we consider Cambodians to be today. What is this obsession we have? All supposed neo-whatever implications aside, the postcard is aesthetically pleasing. The colors are bright, the map is well detailed with verdant greens and ochre. It is, in a word, pretty.

A postcard that I sent my mom while in Cambodia, December 2009

Tintin (Tintin in French and English; Kuifje in Dutch), the Belgium cartoon character, is known for traveling all over the world. In the Comic Museum in Brussels, one area focuses specifically on Tintin and his universality, or rather put into their languages: “Tintin est tout le monde!/Kuifje ist iedereen!/Tintin is everyone in all of the world!" The recognisable character Tintin can be young or old, European or African, solider or sailor, and more depending on the situation and the narrative the author tells. “Si Tintin peut être tout le monde, Tintin peut être toi!/Indien Kuifje iedereen kan zijn, kan Kuifje ook jou zijn!/If Tintin is everyone in all the world, Tintin can also be you!”, signifying how Tintin is meant to become every person, even the reader. He is an iconic character that all people can relate to no matter the situation.  But can he really be every person (well, as a cartoon yes but theoretically as a person?)? Although he technically never officially made it to Indochina, there are fake Tintin cartoons and references throughout the tourist markets in Siem Reap. When I saw this postcard (left), I loved it, bought about four, and sent them to family members and friends. I am not sure why, but this postcard is ingrained in my mind as a symbol of Europeans (whites) in Asia exemplifying ancient tradition and attempting to imitate it in a jovial, touristic manner. I am not actually completely sure what to make of it, but wish to learn more and form my thoughts more thoroughly about colonial cartoons (although this one is more modern) and their meaning (or, perhaps I am reading too much into it).

(Please excuse the inconclusive nature of this post.)

Works Cited:
Cooper, Nicola. France in Indochina Colonial Encounters. New York, New York: Berg Press, 2001. Print.