Talk:Asterix/Archive 1

Chauvinism

"streaks of French chauvinism"

-- Could it be made more specific? Asterix contains lots of caricatures and stereotypes on the French as well as on other countries. David.Monniaux 09:49, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Chauvinism

Indeed, Asterix cannot be chauvinistic. But the main reason is not the authors origin – the intagration system, which was working well then, was theoretically open to all (“French universalism”). The main reason is that Asterix plays with nationalistic codes that where very known after 30 years of general de Gaulle’s presence in the country. Contemponary comic movies with Louis de Funès shows in the same way the gap beetween an idealistic exaltation of the nation, and the reality of the basic citizen life. The funny thing, in Asterix, is that the average villager (including the chief himself, but not Asterix or Panoramix) is a chauvinist who thinks that the best in the world is what he knows. But his illusion is so evidently selfish, and so little dangerous (himself being a good nice guy living in a hut) that it can’t be taken seriously. Asterix isn't, of course, French Bashing. But it is a good example of this mischievious spirit that Frenchies often develop over themselves, to counterbalance their penchant for nationalism.

Actually, the Asterix (the comic as a whole, not the character) is making a lot of irony about chauvinism. For instance Obelix saying that Romans, the British etc are totally crazy. But actually, he also includes the Gaulls themselves (probably the most crazy of them all in the comic)! --Oddeivind (talk) 12:20, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Mrs. Geriatrix

Mrs Geriatrix

I have removed a reference to Geriatrix's wife being called Myopia. To my knowledge, she has never been named in the books. Bluap 4 July 2005 15:35 (UTC)

From http://openscroll.org/asterix/characters.html, for what it's worth:

Peter Kessler says - "There is much speculation whether this is the name of Mrs. Geriatrix. Impedimenta utters it while talking to Mrs. Geriatrix. People disagree whether it is actually the name of Mrs. Geriatrix or just some kind of an oath uttered by Impedimenta. And Uderzo has said that he wanted to retain some mystery around the character as he based her in part on his wife." It seems that Mrs. Geriatrix is not named in the French edition.

Flapdragon 23:09, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Do you want the exact quote? Impedimenta says "Oh Myopia!" while speaking. At the bottom left- hand corner of the box, it says: "REFERENCE TO THE GAULISH GODDESS". So finally, we can clear it up. APclark 12:59, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

"Myopia"?

When was Geriatrix's wife ever named? — JIP | Talk 19:40, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Likewise (and see my comment above). She famously doesn't have a name. Could someone please provide a reference (from Asterix books). Bluap 08:41, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

I can provide two references, one above and one more detailed below.

Mrs Geriatrix (again!)

Once again, I've had to remove a name for Geriatrix's wife. (This time, is was Panacea - who is a completely different character.) If anyone can provide a reference (in the books) for her name, then please do so in this talk page. Otherwise, I will continue to revert these unsupported changes - Bluap 08:28, 26 August 2005 (UTC)

Yes, I saw that too. What was funny was that the article already mentions who Panacea is - she's Tragicomix's wife, apparently younger than Mrs. Geriatrix, and doesn't live in the village. Obelix has a crush on Panacea, but not on Mrs. Geriatrix. (If I remember right, he did once display some sort of affection towards her, but only because someone else said she might like men with pigtails. The "crush" lasted all of one panel, AFAICR.) — JIP | Talk 14:30, 27 August 2005 (UTC)

There's also a mini-strip in 'Asterix and the Class Act', with Obelix trying to catch Panacea under the mistletoe. I'll have to admit that Panacea looks 'slightly' like Mrs Geriatrix, but they're definitely different characters. Bluap 01:23, 28 August 2005 (UTC)

With one being married to an approximate 25-year-old and the other to a 110-year-old, I would think they're different characters... =) JIP | Talk 18:27, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

The confusion seems to come from the fact that in one book, Impedimenta mutters "Myopia" while speaking to Mrs. Geriatrix, but Uderzo has apparently said he wanted to retain mystery about the character as she is partly based on his wife... See the annotations as Asterix Central for details, though I'll add this as a note to the article. -- Guybrush 19:09, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

I will quote (in possibly more detail) for the second time. Impedimenta is speaking to Mrs. Geriatrix. She says "Oh Myopia*!" (Please note the asterisk* next to the word Myopia). In a box in the bottom left-hand corner it says *Reference to the Gaulish Goddess, invoking short-sightedness. If you want to know, I think this is in either Asterix and the Soothsayer or Asterix and the Roman Agent. I can't remember which one. APclark 12:59, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

It's in Asterix and the Soothsayer 216.232.194.229 00:35, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Translation

Translation of names improving on the original

Is that really so? I think it's merely an attempt (and a rather good one) by english translators to create a pun where there was none. The pun in the original french is merely coming up with so many words ending with '-ix' (and, by the way, having a different suffix for each nation/ethnic group, such as '-us' for the Romans, '-on' for the Spanish, etc...

That's pretty much what the article says. Chameleon 21:51, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Then maybe the article is too much 'english language transaltion of Asterix-centric'? Which may be valid, mind you. Again, just thinking outloud... --Jope 07:35, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC)

A certain emphasis on the English translations is to be expected in an article written in English. Also, I have read translations into other languages, and they were quite bland. Only the English ones improve the puns. Chameleon 08:45, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Maybe a paragraph on names is needed, with the current reference to the english translations as a subparagraph?

Just wondering... --Jope 19:57, Oct 14, 2004 (UTC)

I'm just wondering about the pertinence of comparing how good the puns are in different versions. Seems pretty POV to me by essence. Say, I don't think that "Getafix" is an improvement on "Panoramix". --[[User:Valmi|Valmi ✒]] 22:49, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

It is a point of interest. If you don't think "Getafix" is a better pun than "Panoramix", then you don't get it. Chameleon 23:30, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I think this was POV. :-) --[[User:Valmi|Valmi ✒]] 01:43, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)

And, it's not what the original authors intended. Then again, maybe what we need is to credit the english translator by name... 8-)

There have been several translators. If you discover their names, credit them in the article. Chameleon 08:45, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)

All Asterix material created by Goscinny and Uderzo has been translated by Derek Hockridge and Anthea Bell as a team. Their only other official acknowledged English language translator was Robert Steven Caron who provided the 5 "American" translated albums -- a project which never went anywhere further.--Invisifan 13:50, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

In any case, if everyone agrees, I may add as many suffixes as I can for the different nations. --Jope 07:35, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC)

I don't know about the translation of the names, but the English translators are really great, because of all the nifty little puns they manage to put in every album. I haven't read the French originals but I doubt they contain as many puns. 16:03, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Astérix, in French, is famous for being crammed with puns. David.Monniaux 18:18, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)

The "improving on the original" also strikes me as very non-NPOV. Ausir 09:40, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

Just describing the two names (French + explanation, English + explanation) would be great & NPOV, isnt it? I could need an explamation on the French puns, and even the English ones. Then let's leave out the "improvement"-discussion. -DePiep 5 July 2005 13:12 (UTC)

removed the NPOV-remarks in "better than french" style. -DePiep 10:47, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

Eh, should be written POV-remarks here. -DePiep 10:48, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

My Taylor is rich ?

This section gives a detailed & accurate explanation of the original French joke, however it doesn't match the actual English translation... rather than the concoversation being the direct translation: "Is it expensive", "My taylor is rich", the actual translation is: "*Slurp!* *Slurp!* Does it cost a lot to make up?", "Rather! My tailor makes a good thing out of it" ... This of course loses the intended joke altogether, but then not many native English speakers would get the joke as is. And where did the image come from? So should this be here? or in 'Asterix in Britain'? or maybe a "Lost in Translation' section (easily populated and interesting perhaps)? or not at all ...? opinions?

Lost in Translation

Excellent section - I'm glad it's been added. Jamestaylor 09:29, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Écossais

In the French Astérix chez les Bretons, the bartender asks whether they are "Calédoniens" — there are plenty of anachronisms in Astérix, that's part of the humour, but ethnonyms are always of the period. Was Calédoniens really rendered by the translator as Ecossais?! They usually come up with something better than that for jokes that do not survive translation. —Tamfang 05:56, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

In the British edition the footnote for "Caledonians" was the untranslated French (Écossais) ... in the American Translation it does say Scottish.--Invisifan 10:05, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

I see. Looks like negligence from here. —Tamfang 18:53, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

as a further note, obviously this joke would have survived translation since the Scottish are stereotypically considered ... excessively frugal ^_^;; ... so the question is were the English translators being overly sensitive to Scottish sensibilities? ... --Invisifan 10:11, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

The word is thrrrifty. ;) I agree — I meant that the translators could have done the same thing with the offensive joke that they do with untranslatables, i.e. fill the balloon with a line of their own invention. —Tamfang 18:53, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

I can't say I see it as any more offencive than the "warm beer & horrible cuisine of the English" jokes (and btw my mother inherited that style of cooking & it IS horrible -- I'm still recovering ;) ... but then the translators may have felt they could make fun of their own nationality (and those at arm's length on the continent) but not their touchy island-mate (so to speak) ... of course if you know French at all or have any knowledge of British stereotypes & the faintest capacity for logic it's plainly obvious anyway - so perhaps they felt only the ignorant and/or unsophisticated would be offended (but then they'd be unlikely to read the book in the first place); overall I personally find the lack of translation in that instance bizarre. --Invisifan 02:25, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

English translation

Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge are linguistic geniuses. Every English Asterix album I have read, I have appreciated the sheer number of puns they have managed to put on every single page. This makes the English translations even more fun than my native Finnish translations. JIP | Talk 21:15, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Belgian fries

In French, fried potatoes are called pommes frites, fried apples, because potatoes are pommes de terre, earth-apples. In Astérix chez les Belges the Belgian chief is inspired to ask his wife, "Have you ever thought of frying apples?" ... I don't know how this comes over in English, but in French it doesn't depend on the anachronism of a New World crop. —Tamfang 02:49, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Interesting. In hebrew Potatos are also called earth apples. Also oranges are called "golden apple" but in a shortened way - in the beginning it was called by the full name.--217.132.92.83 (talk) 02:07, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Et tu Brute / Tu quoque fili mi

If Cesar keeps on saying to Brutus, in the French original, “Toi aussi mon fils” (you also my son), it is indeed because of some historian's allegations over Brutus identity, especially Suetonius who shows Cesar at his death surprised to see Brutus among his murderers and saying to him in greek : "Kai su teknon" (You also my son). True or not, the fact is famous in France because of Abbot Lhomond’s De viris illustribus (Rome’s great men), a popular beginners latin book written in the late 18th century. Lhomond says : “Quum Marcum Brutum, quem loco filii habebat, in se irruentem vidisset, dixit : Tu quoque fili mi” (You also my son). This last sentence is in France a good translation of Shakespeare’s “Et tu Brute”, mostly notorious among English speakers.

• Can anybody tell us the translation of "Quum Marcum Brutum, quem loco filii habebat, in se irruentem vidisset, dixit "Sauron 13:08, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
  • I'm not sure but I'd say something like : "When He had seen that Marcus Brutus, whom he used to considered as a son, was attacking him, he said...". It's not pure latin. For instance "quum", doesn't exist, it's "cum".

geriatrix - agecanonix

"Geriatrix (French: Agecanonix — canonical age — when French clergy are allowed to keep female servants)"

Well, "âge canonique" for the average French guy simply means : "very old".

Indeed, struck me too, so I fixed it. Ghilz 18:38, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Certainly it only means very old to the average reader in French - nonetheless, as "canonique" indicates, the expression did originate with the clergy... note that Goscinny was not an "average reader" but rather an accomplished and intelligent punster who knew precisely what he was implying; most Asterix characters' French names are hilariously spurious but in the case of Agecanonix that is not the case — it's not even funny beyond being descriptive — or is it? In the first volume in which his name is used he is also first shown as someone with an eye for the young ladies, and it is that in conjunction with the historical meaning that makes up the full original pun.--Invisifan

List of language translations

Translation Languages

When I added the list of "major translations" my criteria was: at least 30 of the 33 (90%) albums translated to the language...

• I didn't put in Serbo-Croatian, but looking at it — if you combine the many publishers' editions they do cover 31 ...
• Galician is a bit problematic — only 18 different albums translated, BUT it is essentially Portuguese-spoken-in-Spain (Portuguese translates all 33 — plus 32 separate translations in Brazil), so I won't argue ...
• Finland is a Scandinavian country, but Finnish is not a Scandinavian (ie. North-Germanic) language — Danish, Norwegian & Swedish are relatively interchangeable but Finnish is closer to Magyar (Hungarian) etymologically (hence I am reverting the change that lumped it in with them - the separation is calculated & deliberate)
• For reference, the number of actual translations:
  • (all 33) — English, Dutch, German, the Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish), Finnish, Italian, modern Greek, Portuguese, some languages of Spain (Castilian and Catalan) and Polish
  • (90% or more) — Brazilian Portuguese (32), Serbo-Croatian and Basque (31), Turkish and Indonesian (30)
  • (66%+ ie. 22 or more, for future reference) — Czech (27), Hungarian (25), Korean (24) and Latin (!) (22).

--Invisifan 23:06, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

When I added today information about German translations, my intention was that France still is a neighbour country to Germany, so I don't quite understand why my entry has been removed. Especially my link to the Germen Asterix fan site www.comedix.de should be restored; otherwise the link to a Newzealandish website should also be removed. ALthough this is a site in English language, you should pay due respect to the fact that Asterix is a European comic series, and be a little bit aware of European geography. --alwin.ertl 05:32, 01-Oct-2006 (CET)

I am aware of European geography, thank you. So you mean that we should add info on the Dutch, Letzebuergisch, German, Italian, English and Spanish translations, and not for other languages? I don't get your point here. This is the English language version of Wikipedia, so we should have info on the original version, and on the translation. Adding info on all translations would make the article way too long, and only adding info on neighbouring languages is a bizarre criterion and still adds too much info. As for the external links: see WP:EL, section "Links normally to be avoided", point 7: foreign-language sites should normally be avoided. The Newzealandish website is in English. It may be that it has to go as well, I only removed the obvious candidates, but you can't claim that we must have either both or none of those two, as there are good reasons to delete the German one which do not apply to the English langauge one. Fram 12:34, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Racism

...some even into Latin, Arabic, Ancient Greek and Esperanto.

Why "even" in to Arabic? Why not "even" into Indonesian? "Even" is justifiable with ancient languages or artificial ones like esperanto. However, to use this word with connection to a living language (especially one against which there is an astonishing amount of French racism) is not acceptable. Change it. Fast. Stinks of POV, and a racist agenda, and wikinazis.

Arabic was added August 26 by anonymous user:67.33.201.58 to the main list of translations. There are 6 albums translated to Arabic; as explained above, the criteria for inclusion in the main list is 90% translation (30 albums or more -- Indonesian translates 30). Options: delete it, or move it to "even", or list all 100+ languages & dialects any album has ever been translated to ... since it shows a diversity from the otherwise largely Euro-centric "main" translations, and to not summarily dismiss a good-faith edit, I chose at the time to move it to "even". If you (or any other editor reading this) feel this seems racist, by all means remove it.--Invisifan 20:58, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Language is not a "race" as far as I know. However, I agree that it is no particular reason to include "even", as Arabic is a large language. One could with more justification write "even Norwegian" (to use my own mother tongue as an example), as this language has just 4 million users. And if I am not completely wrong, it is EVEN translated into Icelandic... --Oddeivind (talk) 12:13, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

and once again ...

Another two languages have been added to the "main" translations list ... Hindi this time (6 translations) and Hebrew (9) ... Having been accused or racism the last time I recategorized new language additions I've changed the wording a bit - if anyone has any suggestions PLEASE speak up.

and ...

Czech, Slovak and Afrikaans have been added to the "most" list (30+) -- Czech comes close at 27 (if 3 or more new volumes have been translated recently then please add it back) but Slovak & Afrikaans are nowhere near. I'll move Afrikaans to the "diversity" list, but as European languages with less than 30 translations I'm afraid there's no justification for keeping Czech or Slovak on either list ... :( —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Invisifan (talk • contribs) 02:47, 11 January 2007 (UTC).

source?

Two Polish regional translations of Asterix are mentioned. Unlike the others they are marked with 'citation needed'. They are not on the language lists elsewhere on the internet, so I am a little worried here. Jochgem (talk) 09:22, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

Specific books

All the comments here should eventually be moved to the talk page for Detailed list of the Asterix Volumes, or the individual pages for the books. In the meantime, I've left them here. TimNelson 06:42, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Asterix Class Act

Isn't this a collection of older short stories, where several were written by Goscinny, before his death?

Correct, though I think that one of them was written especially for the collection. Bluap 08:43, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

I did a proper page for Asterix and the Class Act a while ago - including information on the original appearances/writer. Most are by Goscinny, only a couple are Uderzo alone, with one of those being original to the album.--Invisifan 15:54, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

How Obelix Fell Into the Cauldron...

I noticed this book, whose full title I think is How Obelix Fell Into the Cauldron of Magic Potion When He Was a Baby or something equally long, isn't listed. It's not a comic album like the others but a story book, with prose and accompanying illustrations much like the book versions of Asterix Versus Caesar and The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (which, come to mention it, aren't listed either). I'm not sure it was even written by Uderzo, but does anyone have details of this book so we can add them? I'm not making it up, I saw it many times in bookshops around the time of its release here in Australia, which was sometime in the mid to late 1990s. -- Guybrush 18:58, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

How Obelix fell into the Magic Potion when he was a little boy: from the preface:

"This text was written by Rene Goscinny for Pilote number 291. It appeared the 20th of May 1965. Goscinny wrote a text describing how the little Obelix fell into the druid's cauldron of Magic Potion for which I [= Uderzo] made three small drawings. Asterix was in it's sixth year, and that is also approximately how old Obelix is in this story. Because so many readers never had the chance to read this earlier, we decided to republish the story in the form of an album with a few more illustrations."

FWIW, there are many more non-album releases. A fairly complete list is to be found here. Jordi·✆ 21:36, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

The others mentioned there are not stories however (movie adaptions aside) - I added a section to th List of Asterix volumes called "In Addition" to cover the stories like this that appeared outside the normal albums (there are eight others as well)--Invisifan 15:52, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Asterix 33

Asterix 33 will be called The falling sky and seems to be about the weather itself threatening the Gaulish village (this is speculation from the cover art). When it is released in Finland I will add an article about it, unless someone else beats me to it. — JIP | Talk 07:06, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

I'll race you :-) To my knowledge, the English title hasn't been confirmed. The French title is "Le ciel lui tombe sur la tête" (literally "The sky, he falls on the head") - a clear reference to the only thing which Gauls are afraid of Bluap 08:22, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

slight correction: The sky falls on his head (literally: the sky falls him on the head)- the 'lui' does not refer to the sky213.197.247.241 13:59, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

Asterix 33

The new Asterix album is complete crap. It is absolutely horrible. It's the only album in the entire series that I don't like at all. I actually had trouble even reading it.

The reason for this is the ludicrous plot. Outer space aliens? In an Asterix album? Please! I originally felt disgusted at the "magic of Atlantis" thing in Asterix and Obelix all at sea, but got over it, as it was only a minor part of this plot. In this album, OTOH, the entire plot is based on things that don't have the faintest to do with ancient Gaulish times! The Gauls and Romans seem to be in background roles in their own album!

I have read this will probably be the last Asterix album ever. I sincerely hope it won't - the magnificent series can't end in garbage such as this. — JIP | Talk 16:46, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

Be careful what you wish for. Basically every solo Uderzo album has been worse than the former, and the artist's writing imagination seems to be on an ever-escalating downhill decline... The artwork still seemed okay, even if Uderzo allegedly needed some help to complete this last album... 81.232.72.148 02:58, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

Asterix and the Laurel Wreath

"Needless to say, Caesar isn't very cooperative." I think this phrase is very misleading (you could probably say it's outright incorrect), since Ceaser appears minimally in the book (if I'm not mistaken, only a few panels right at the end) and, in any case, it mainly revolves the attempts of Asterix and Obelix to get access to Ceaser's house, becoming willful slaves.

Also, "With Asterix and Obelix, he travels to Rome to retrieve it." Vitalstatistix does not travel to Rome with Obelix and Asterix, he assigns the task to them and leaves it at that (probably returning to the village). So, unless someone can explain to me why, I'm going to change these phrases to something more adequate.--Vertigo200 17:37, 22 October 2005 (UTC)

• Please change the phrases. They're obviously false. Caesar doesn't even know of the Gauls' plan to switch his wreath, or notice he is wearing a wreath of parsley instead of laurel. The Gauls don't even meet Caesar, it is the Roman official's chief slave who does the actual "dirty work". How can Caesar be "cooperative" or "non-cooperative" in something he never knows of or notices in the first place? And Vitalstatistix doesn't travel to Rome, he travels back home to his village with his wife after the visit in Parisium. — JIP | Talk 07:33, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

Asterix and the falling sky

There is a claim in that section that it is 'generally not well liked by fans' however according to the french wikipedia, the book has sold 800,000 copies in three days. --AMorris (talk)●(contribs) 11:13, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

• Liking something and buying it don't necessarily have anything to do with each other. I personally bought a copy straight away, being a devoted Asterix fan, and when I actually read it I found it to be complete rubbish. Conversely, there might be Asterix fans who read Asterix books at a library or at a friend's house but never buy any of their own. As much as I'd like to enter into a rant about the difference between just any random bloke who buys Asterix books and a "true fan" of Asterix, I'll just say that the general reaction to this book was significantly worse than the reaction to most of the previous books, so it warrants a mention in the article. — JIP | Talk 12:24, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

Humour

Running Jokes: Pirates

Unless I'm missing something the head of the Pirates doesn't have a peg-leg, so I deleted those words. I also added a favourate Pirate appearance from Asterix and The Cauldron.

You're right. It's his wisecracking sidekick, the one who spouts Latin proverbs, who has the wooden leg. Flapdragon 14:05, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

The pirates actually are caricatures of the heroes of another comic, 'Barbe Rouge' (Redbeard) by Charlier and Hubinon.

Does anyone know of a site, or list of some kind which collates and translates the Latin-quoting pirate's sayings. I've found various sites (like the "Annotations" linked) but if I don't have the books to hand, it's not clear at all which latin phrase is said by the pirate, and I'd like to see if there's any humour in them - like "Sic! Ad Nauseam!"... iPhil 23:05, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Abraracourcix commented out?

This text is commented out: the chief is called Abraracourcix, derived from the phrase à bras racourci meaning "with arm shortened, ready to punch." Another series of puns, at least in the original French include the names of the four camps (castra) which surround Asterix's village, e.g. one of them is called "Babaorum", a pun on baba au rhum, a popular kind of pastry. . Anyone knows why? -DePiep 20:02, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

I read an explanation of this joke. The villages surrounding Asterix' village are called Aquarium, Babaorum, Laudanum and Petibonum. Babaorum is named after "baba au rhum", a popular kind of pastry, Laudanum is a pharmacist's tincture and Petibonum should be read "petit bonhomme", meaning something like "petty bourgeois", and taken together should be interpreted as a joke on the conservative bourgeois population in France.

Thanks, So it should be IN. -DePiep 22:07, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

No matter what U&G have said, "Abraracourcix" can still be alternately read as 'arbre raccourci,' meaning a cut-tree or tree stump. Whether called 'un arbre raccourci' or 'une souche' in French, a tree-stump is a metaphor for a nincompoop in the language. Given how the chief is protrayed as boorish, reactionary, and indeed "ready to punch," I think there is valid argument for this second meaning within the pun. DoctorP 17:40, 3 August 2006 (UTC)DoctorP

If you distort the words enough to get arbrə out of abra, you can probably find a lot more multiple puns. —Tamfang 05:21, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

This is ridiculous. Abraracourcix is a pun on the French saying "à bras raccourcis" coming from the phrase "tomber sur quelqu'un à bras raccourcis". It's hard to produce a good translation of this image in English. Have you ever seen the Fighting Irish mascot of the University of Notre Dame ? Google it. Anyway. This is the picture to have in mind when the French say "shortened arms" (bras raccourcis). Basically, when somebody comes after you "à bras raccourcis" (with shortened arms), the French mean to say you are being attacked by someone feisty and short tempered (unpredictable). The pun in the name of the village chief is then obvious : he is a feisty and short tempered guy. His name has absolutely nothing to do with "small tree" or any other such crackpotish phonetic explanation.

Character vs. Series (Disambiguation)

See also:

• Invisifan's comments on the failed rename
• Comments at bottom of page

specific character article

I can't seem to find an article about the specific character of Asterix - this article seems to talk more about the series as a whole rather than his specific character, however we have articles on most of the other major Asterix characters (Obelix, Getafix, Vitalstatistix etc.). Should there be another article or should the information on his character be incorported into this article? --AMorris (talk)●(contribs) 12:16, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

Confusion of title character and series

This article seems to be both about Asterix, the character, and the series of books in which he appears (which I thought were called "The adventures of Asterix and Obelix". Is there some reason this is the case? Stevage 13:29, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, a large fraction of the books have Astérix in the title but only one (as of when I lost track) has Obélix. —Tamfang 05:45, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

There's no official title for the series in English (or French afaik) ... Obelix' name has appeared in 2 albums (Obelix and Co. and Asterix and Obelix All at Sea, the latter of which was in French La Galère d'Obélix — ie. Obelix' Galley). Aside from Obelix and Co., Asterix' name also did not appear on The Mansions of the Gods , but "Asterix and ..." is an English convention — many of the French titles do not have his name in the title either. Some at one time included a banner on the cover stating "An Asterix Adventure", however that was publisher specific (in fact in other languages that do have series titles they change when the series changes publishers)... so any differentiation we made (should we choose to do so) would be entirely arbitrary. --Invisifan 10:55, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Obelix's dog

I remember Obelix has a dog called "idefix" or something. I don't know how it is spelled. Could someone add the info please? --88.234.41.171 (talk) 11:26, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Misc comments

Albums?

Why are Asterix's books called albums? KRS 12:34, 21 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I don't know how it got started (translation from the French?), but it's a reflection of the fact that the books are actually collections of stories that originally appeared serialised in some magazine or other. --Paul A 04:26, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)

In french, most hard cover comic books are called Albums. This goes for Tintin as well as Spirou and Asterix. Ghilz 02:43, Oct 1, 2004 (UTC)

The same goes for Finnish too. 16:01, Feb 9 2005 (UTC)

And German as well. Imladros 12:20, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Expansion

This needs to be as expansive as the Tintin article. Both are equally important comics. We definitely need pictures of the major characters: Asterix, Obelix, Abraracurcix, etc (excuse my Spanish character names; that's how I read Asterix as a child). ~Lockeownzj00 (undated, but i didnt add me username so adding it now)

Also, we need to have an article on each book, like Tintin. I can do this, but it will take awhile. Lockeownzj00 18:20, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I wrote an article about Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield as a result of the discussion in Battle of Alesia. I'm planning on writing about Asterix and the Black Gold next. — JIP | Talk 05:52, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Super-Man

I heard about a Superman pastiche/homage where Super-Man went to Asterix' village, but it wasn't allowed to be reprinted, because in this comic Asterix had died, or something. Does anyone know something else about it?

That was "Action Comics" #579 ("Prisoner of Time") - a "Superman meets Asterix" tribute/parody--Invisifan 15:54, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Can anybody tell me where i can find more information on this book ? Being an Asterix fan and Superman fan, i would like to read the book.Sauron 13:15, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

French regional stereotypes

"Some caricatures of the traits of certain French regions are also used: the people from Normandy smother their food in cream and cannot give a straight answer; the people from Marseille play boules and exaggerate matters, and Corsicans don't like to do any work, are easily angered and have long-standing vendettas that they settle violently."

I've just re-read Asterix et les Normands and I can't see anything about them not giving a straight answer. (I added the bit about cream, which seems to be the only characteristic of the Normans, apart from not knowing fear, the main theme of the plot.) Is there some confusion here? Flapdragon 00:54, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

I suspect the comment about Normandy refers to the portrayal in Asterix and the Banquet, not Asterix and the Normans. It's a long, long time since I read it in French, though, so I can't be certain. 81.151.206.68 03:47, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Asterix and the Normans is about Normans, not Normandians. I.e. it's about Vikings. In Finnish it's called Asterix ja normannien maihinnousu, i.e. Asterix and the Norman landing, a pun on the military operation in WWII. The French regional stereotypes described by the original writer are in Asterix and the Banquet, but the people who don't know fear are the Normans (Vikings) in Asterix and the Normans, just like Flapdragon said. It's so confusing when two peoples have so similar names. — JIP | Talk 03:58, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

That's true, and perhaps it's surprising they didn't translate it as Asterix and the Vikings, but of course they aren't totally different peoples. The stereotype about cream wouldn't really work if we thought of them as Vikings (Norsemen, straight from Scandinavia) as opposed to Normans like William the Conqueror. Anyway thanks both for clearing up the mystery of the other Norman stereotype. Flapdragon 03:21, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)

For the record, they are in fact references to the same people: the Normans (ie. Norsemen aka Vikings) were in later centuries ceded the region that became Normandy (hence the name) in exchange for peace and as a buffer against further raids - while the movie has been named "Asterix and the Vikings", Normans is in the title to make the connection with the cream joke.--Invisifan 15:34, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

This little section goes to show the utter ignorance of English readers of Asterix about the *original* version. The Normands (dwellers of Normandie) are well-known in France for being unable to give a straight answer to a "yes or no" question. They stereotypically answer "p'têt ben qu'oui p'têt ben qu'non" rendering in their way to speak the phrase "peut-être bien que oui, peut-être bien que non" meaning "maybe yes, maybe no". In France, this has been a running gag on the Normands for decades. In fact, just a few years ago, there was a TV commercial for a brand of butter made in Normandie (note: Normandie is famous for its cows and dairy products) in which the "maybe yes maybe no" phrase was recurrently used.

"majority of the adult population"

In most parts of Europe, a majority of the adult population has read an Asterix book at some point in their life. 200.30.133.115

Any hard evidence for this bold assertion, previously qualified with "probably"? Flapdragon 22:59, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Went ahead and toned it down. Flapdragon 14:15, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

Self-reference U&G

Is it worth mentioning: in The Olympics, about halfway, there is a self-reference by Uderzo & Goscinny. The main gate has, in the backgroound, a work in stone that mentions U&G in writing - in the Greek script that is. They have words, engraved, saying something like Tiran and Despote (to each other?). -DePiep 20:01, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

There is also another self reference in Asterix and the cauldron, where they are among the audiences in the theatre scene.Sauron 13:25, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Recurring characters

Looking through the pages of the listed recurring characters, I found them all to be stubs, and generally they are mostly stereotypes who don't really merrit a full article about them.. I was thinking of merging the pages into a Recurring characters in Asterix list, similar in design to Minor characters in Tintin - what do you think?

• That seems like a good idea, but maybe the article should be titled Asterix characters, as per the article Dilbert characters that I created to keep Dilbert under 30 kilobytes. Asterix and Obelix might deserve their own articles but everyone else could be merged into the same article. — JIP | Talk 11:28, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
  • Minor comment: I do think that the name should indicate that only characters seen multiple times are included, or else every odd character they've encountered will be eligible. Poulsen 15:17, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
    • I'm not too sure about that. Is there anything in Dilbert characters that would make people think anyone who has been mentioned in a single Dilbert panel can be included there? Dilbert is almost as popular in the USA as Asterix is pretty much everywhere else, so I think this can be used as a comparison. — JIP | Talk 15:30, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
      • "This is a list of characters from the comic strip Dilbert" indicates that any character from the cartoon is allowed to be put in, yes. A quick estimate would say 30 characters are in the Dilbert article, while there are 33 Asterix albums each featuring several new characters. I think the only characters interesting enough to be put in the proposed article would be the 25 or so listed recurrent Asterix characters in the main Asterix article. Poulsen 15:50, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
        • I have now created a merged article for most of the recurring characters. — JIP | Talk 17:32, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

The two lifes of Asterix

What about mentioning that after Goscinny died Uderzo failed to maintain the quality of the scenarios and dialogues?

Ynot en 10:57, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

it's touched on briefly in the List of Asterix volumes but going any further is rather PoV ... we can't really comment on the dialog since we (in English) don't get to read what he wrote. As for the scenarios - it's not so much quality as direction ... Uderzo's solo Asterix stories (including those from before Goscinny's death) are decidedly more fantasy-oriented, and while there has always been an element of that (eg. the magic potion, etc.) it was rarely noticeable in Goscinny's stories, but a dominant element of nearly all of Uderzo's.--Invisifan 11:08, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Images

Can someone please move the images to the commons so we can use them in our wiki without making copies? Is there a way of using the images right from the English wiki? --Rathne 06:02, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Unmarried or gay?

The article states that Asterix is a "confirmed bachelor". Are the writers aware that this phrase is a code-word for a homosexual? I never noticed such a theme in the books when I read them as a child, but it would certainly put a curious spin on his relationship with Obelix. If the intent of the article writers is to convey that he is unmarried, I would suggest replacing "confirmed bachelor" with "unmarried".

"confirmed bachelor" is also (and in older usage) a "code-word" for a playboy ... but then Asterix isn't really that either ... so point taken (I never personally liked that phrasing anyway).--Invisifan 11:09, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Requested move

The following is a closed discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was No move. Duja 08:19, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

---

Asterix → Asterix and Obelix — This is the proper name and is referred to this by many. The Asterix and Obelix page exists as a redirect Simply south 10:39, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Survey

Add  * '''Support'''  or  * '''Oppose'''  on a new line followed by a brief explanation, then sign your opinion using ~~~~.

• Strong oppose: The correct title, both in French and in English, is Aterix (or Astérix), not Asterix an Obelix. See e.g. this cover[1] on Wikipedia, and all other covers. The series is listed as "The Adventures of Asterix" on Amazon[2], the official site [3] only mentions "Asterix albums", etcetera. I have not found any reference that "Asterix an Obelix" is "the proper name", although it is indeed also referenced thus by many: that is why it is a redirect to the official name. Fram 11:00, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose - while the series may be referred to as such by a lot of people it is NOT the official name - the closest there is to that is "Asterix Adventures" .. or just "Asterix" both of which are used as part of banner titles for the series. Internally it reads: "Goscinny and Uderzo present: An Asterix Adventure".--Invisifan 11:06, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose — The official title is Astérix le Gaulois (Asterix the Gaul) or Astérix, both in the official french and in all its translations, including English: [4]. -- Jordi·✆ 12:35, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose. Bolivian Unicyclist 16:42, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose never heard it called that. --Yath 23:32, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Discussion

Add any additional comments:

I would support splitting this article into "Asterix" (series) and "Asterix (character)" -- after all Obelix & Dogmatix have their own articles and this one is 90% about the series, not the character, so it seems only proper ...--Invisifan 11:16, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Good idea, the same is done with Tintin and Snowy versus The Adventures of Tintin, and Spirou (character) versus Spirou et Fantasio (to give one where the full title does indeed feature the two main characters). Fram 13:55, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

If i scanned in a picture from a cover of one, would hat count as copy violation? Simply south 11:24, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

there's a category for covers of a single issue (far-use demo) which is what the covers in the individual articles are "licenced" under - just don't make it too large or hi-res, about 500px wide is pretty standard--Invisifan 11:37, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

That is, i was meaning a front cover of one of the comics\books. Mayb its only the later editions which have Asterix and Obelix. Simply south 13:58, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

The current editions at Sterling[5] still have "Asterix", so at least in English (and this is the English Wikipedia), there doesn't seem to have been a change. I have seen the last one (All at Sea) referenced as one of "the adventures of Asterix and Obelix" (e.g. on Amaazon), but even that one has at least on its cover only "Asterix" as the series title, and "Asterix and Obelix all at sea" as the issue title. But this does not make that the sesrie stitle, just like the series title isn't "Obelix & Co.". If you can give a link to some counterexample, please be my guest. Fram 14:06, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Satire

A long time ago (not quite 50BC but close) I read that Asterix started as a satire of a French political party (the Gaullists I think). Is this true? I hope so because I've been telling people it for 20 years... Totnesmartin 01:42, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Split

Reasoning for split: see Invisifan under Discussion section of the flopped move. Simply south 21:20, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Note that separate pages for the series and the character are common to several other Wikipedias (see fr:Astérix, es:Astérix (personaje), and fi:Asterix, in contrast to those that link here). There isn't a ton of information on any of the pages, but perhaps it is clearer to separate them. I would suggest not making the first page a disambiguation, though, but putting a prominent link to the article on the character himself somewhere near the top of the page. Rigadoun (talk) 21:21, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Seeing as how it's been requested repeatedly on this page since Oct. 2005 (see Character vs. Series), I'd say be bold and just do it. I agree with Rigadoun, though, that the series should be Asterix and the character should be Asterix (character).

-- TimNelson 06:47, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Okay i have split what i can and, as usual, it needs expansion. Simply south 17:51, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Kajko and Kokosz

Kajko i Kokosz - enough said. Maybe short remark somewhere in the article, or is it not worth it?Szopen 13:09, 30 January 2007 (UTC) Note of explanation - there are striking resemblances between two series, enough to accuse Christa o plagiarism. However his first short stories which had medieval setting and two heroes, one short and smart and second large, strong and fat appeared in 1961, as a result of continous evolution which started in early 1950s. Szopen 13:15, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

The puns!

You know, I dont think the puns for the Indian names should me -it, -at. What about Watzizneim and Howdoo? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Yoyohippo (talk • contribs) 12:41, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

what are the bad habits of asterix and obelix?

Speaking of puns: Asterix = asterisk (*) Obelix = Obelisk? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 156.34.188.76 (talk) 23:58, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Please.....

Yoyohippo 12:58, 24 May 2007 (UTC) Someone ought to put the "Revisionist explanations" in a new article or at least a new list. The list is not even complete.

Revisionist explanations

In the note about the Briton cultivating the grass, it's commented that it was a reference to Wembley Stadium. Do we have evidence for that? Because I think it could be a reference to Wimbledon - not Wembley. Mad Dog Dunstan 03:32, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Native American

I just read through a UK version of Asterix and the Great Crossing, and found no pictograms in the Native Americans' speech. In fact, they never say anything intelligible in any language, instead talking completely onomatopoetically (sp?) - hunting signals disguised as bird calls, sound effects when telling a story, imitated animal speech (for example, when the chief is telling Obelix about the food), shouts of "ugh!" and "olé!" (having learned that from Obelix, who thought they were Iberians), and normal giggling and laughter. JIP | Talk 16:55, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

I don't have that particular album, but I do seem to recall it was correct of the original French album. I wouldn't quite trust my memory on this, though. Their "writing" definitely use such fake pictograms, hence my doubts. Circeus 17:56, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Redundancy in Names

There seems to be a lot of redundancy in the naming section. It goes into great detail about the various naming tendencies, mentioning the female naming variant twice, and then proceeds to add a list of the suffixes used with each language/nationality/ethnicity. If you could reduce the number of examples and repetitivity in the above paragraph, the suffixes section would suffice for most of it. 156.56.153.229 00:20, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Geriatrix's wife vs. Panacea

Someone again claimed Geriatrix's wife was named Panacea. This is obviously false, they are two very different characters.

Geriatrix's wife: In her late thirties or early fourties. Red-haired, wears her hair in a bun. Wears a green dress. Married to Geriatrix, over 110 years old. Obelix has little to none interest in her.

Panacea: In her early or middle twenties. Blonde-haired, wears her hair loose. Wears a white and blue dress. Engaged to Tragicomix, also in his early or middle twenties. Obelix is obsessed with her.

I think this should make it fairly clear they are not the same character. JIP | Talk 20:41, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Section removed from article

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Jasynnash2 (talk) 09:51, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Comics B-Class Assesment required

This article needs the B-Class checklist filled in to remain a B-Class article for the Comics WikiProject. If the checklist is not filled in by 7th August this article will be re-assessed as C-Class. The checklist should be filled out referencing the guidance given at Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Assessment/B-Class criteria. For further details please contact the Comics WikiProject. Comics-awb (talk) 15:22, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Split "Humour" section into multiple articles

This section is far, far too long for this article. It will have to be either cut down or given its own page. {Midnightblueowl (talk) 18:12, 22 September 2008 (UTC)}

It must be admitted that the whole article was long, but now it is too short. The article The Adventures of Tintin is very long, but it has reached featured status (we must not forget that this is our aim). The main structure of the article is good, and the split may be a good idea, but now each section must be much expanded. Pah777 (talk) 21:35, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Read WP:SS about how to split off sub-topics into their own articles. In this particular instance, there are 4 main sections in the new Humour in Asterix article. I would suggest that we summarise that article by having a long paragraph in this article for each section in the sub-article. Bluap (talk) 03:48, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

Agreed, but again I worry that it'll still make this page too long. (Midnightblueowl (talk) 15:28, 23 October 2008 (UTC))

Asterix will continue without Uderzo

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090109/lf_afp/lifestylefrancebookscomics_newsmlmmd --Oddeivind (talk) 12:23, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Should Asterix hang up his sword?

News article from the BBC. Make of it what you will. [7]. Alpha Ralpha Boulevard (talk) 13:07, 22 October 2009 (UTC)