Asterix in Britain
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| Asterix in Britain | |
 |
|
| Original French title |
Astérix chez les Bretons |
|---|---|
| Story | Rene Goscinny |
| Illustrations | Albert Uderzo |
| French edition | 1966 |
| English translation |
1970 |
| Preceded by | Asterix and the Big Fight |
| Followed by | Asterix and the Normans |
Asterix in Britain (French: Astérix chez les Bretons) is the eighth in the Asterix comic book series. It was first published in serial form in Pilote magazine, issues 307-334 in 1965, and was published in album form in 1966. It tells the story of Asterix and Obelix's journey to Roman-occupied Britain.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Julius Caesar has invaded Britain and succeeded, mainly because the British soldiers under Cassivelaunos stop fighting every day to drink hot water (with a drop of milk), and refuse to fight over the weekend. As with Gaul, a single village remains independent, defying the Romans. One member of the village, Anticlimax, is dispatched to Gaul to enlist the help of Getafix the druid in providing magic potion for the British rebels. It is decided that Asterix and Obelix should accompany him back to his village to help transport a whole barrel full of the potion.
In Britain, the barrel of potion is confiscated from a pub cellar along with all the "warm beer" (bitter) by the Romans, who set about tasting all the barrels to find the right one. Asterix and Obelix steal back all the barrels but Obelix gets drunk and starts a fight. During the fracas, a thief steals the cart with all the barrels. After a brief stay in the Tower of London the three heroes hunt down the potion, which is being used as a pick-me-up for a Rugby team. Eventually the potion is lost in the Thames after an attack from a Roman catapult.
Finally reaching the independent village, Asterix eases the Britons' disappointment by claiming he carries herbs to remake the potion; these are later revealed to be tea. With a psychological boost, the village prevails against the Romans. Asterix and Obelix return home to the inevitable feast. The Britons like the tea so much, they proclaim it shall be their national drink.
[edit] Style
By this volume, the artwork for Asterix books had become well established and standardised, along with the plot and character conventions. The colouring and production are of a higher quality than earlier volumes but do not quite have the polish and gloss of later ones such as Asterix in Switzerland.
[edit] Humour
[edit] Stereotypes
The authors worried that, as had occurred with some of their other books set outside of Gaul, they might receive complaints from British readers about the portrayal of their country. The following message was included in the original English release:
- "As usual, we caricature what we are fond of, and we are fond of the British, in spite of their strange way of putting Nelson on top of their columns instead of Napoleon. However, when it comes to presenting this skit on the British to the British, we feel we owe them a word or two of explanation. Our little cartoon stories do not make fun of the real thing, but the ideas of the real thing that people get into their heads, i.e., clichés.
- We Gauls imagine the British talking in a very refined way, drinking tea at five o'clock and warm beer at the peculiar hours of opening time. The British eat their food boiled, with mint sauce; they are brave, phlegmatic, and always keep a stiff upper lip. Suppose we were British, caricaturing the Gauls, we would say they all wore berets, ate frogs and snails and drank red wine for breakfast. We might add that they all have hopelessly relaxed upper lips, and that phlegm is not their outstanding characteristic. And most of all, we should hope that the Gauls would have as good a sense of humour as the British."
Accordingly, Rugby, the weekend, toast, umbrellas, double-decker buses, rain, fog, British gardens, and, of course, pubs are all referenced. Asterix and Anticlimax engage in a debate of which side of the road it is 'correct' to drive on (people in Britain drive on the left, whereas in other European countries, they drive on the right). There is a reference to the British pre-decimal currency system (which was still in use in the UK at the time the book was published). There is also a reference to British imperial measurements: Anticlimax says to Obelix that they "measure in feet".
The British habit of drinking tea is referenced in the comic, although initially the Britons drink only hot water with a little milk until Asterix introduces tea. This is assumed to happen after the book ends as it is something that Asterix promises to send them later, and, which the Druid says is called "Tea." The famous cliché of England's terrible reputation for cooking is also referenced several times.
Anticlimax is from the tribe of "the Oxbridgenses, famed for their skill in rowing", according to the text. This is a reference to the rowing games held between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. References to the Five Tribes tournament are to the 5 Nations Rugby tournament (held between France, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland—plus Italy since 2000). In the British edition, however, they refer to the "tribal crown" instead - if any of the teams from within the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland) defeats the other three it is said to win the "triple crown". The game of rugby is insanely violent and Obelix says that they must get this "nice game" played in Gaul (this refers to the fact that France is now one of the biggest stronghold for rugby in Europe after Britain).
At the end of the book, when the Romans are beaten in battle, Anticlimax exclaims; "Victory", while making the V sign, a reference to Winston Churchill. The very popular group of bards are caricatures of The Beatles. The place where Obelix and Dipsomaniax are imprisoned is a parody of the Tower of London.
At one point, Obelix remarks that a tunnel between Gaul and Britannia would be useful. Anticlimax says they are working on the idea, "but it looks like taking a jolly long time, what?" This is a reference to the Channel Tunnel, which had been a popular idea for centuries, but had still not been built yet in 1966 when the comic was written.
The authors reported that they received no complaints regarding the book.[citation needed]
[edit] Language
[edit] Original French
Much of the humour in the original French version rests on errors commonly made by British people in attempting to speak French. For instance, Anticlimax continues to address Asterix with "vous" rather than the familiar "tu" in spite of them being related and of Asterix using "tu" with Anticlimax from early on. This is a reference to the English language having only one word for "you".
There are jokes relating to English classes. Obelix remarks on the tweed worn by Asterix's Briton cousin, asking, "Is it expensive?" ("c'est cher?"); the Briton replies, "My tailor is rich" ("mon tailleur est riche") — an allusion to basic lessons in English, available in many European states; "My tailor is rich" was the very first spoken phrase said in the first Assimil "English without Pain" (Anglais sans Peine) vinyl record volume released circa 1960.[citation needed]
Anticlimax speaks French but with literally translated English expressions as "I beg your pardon," "Isn't it?" and "I say!" In addition, the speech patterns of the British characters are changed to resemble English grammar. For instance, "potion magique" becomes "magique potion" (magic potion), reflecting the fact that in English, adjectives go before the noun, rather than after, as in French.
[edit] English translation
In the English version, the translators give the Britons a stereotypical British upper class style of speech to distinguish their language from that spoken by Asterix and Obelix. For example, they say "What" at the end of every sentence. Obelix asks Anticlimax "What do you keep saying 'What' for?" Anticlimax replies "Don't you know what's what what?"
The English translation contains jokes relating to learning French. When Asterix remarks that his cousin's boat is small, Anticlimax replies obscurely, "It's smaller than the garden of my uncle, but larger than the pen of my aunt," a phrase used in English texts of the period when teaching French.[citation needed] Similarly, when a Briton, holding a spear, deters the Romans pursuing the Gauls because they are ruining his well-groomed lawn, the decurion furiously asks the Briton is he is daring to oppose Rome, to which he responds "Maybe my garden is smaller than Rome, but my pilum is harder than your sternum"
[edit] Film adaptation
The book was adapted into a film of the same name, which was released in 1986. The adaptation is mostly faithful to the book (the main difference being that Dogmatix accompanies his master to Britain).
[edit] In other languages
- Bengali: Britain-a Asterix
- Bosnian: Asterix u Britaniji
- Catalan: Astèrix a Bretanya
- Croatian: Asterix u Britaniji
- Dutch: Asterix bij de Britten, formerly Asterix en de Britten
- Finnish: Asterix Britanniassa
- German: Asterix bei den Briten
- Greek: Ο Αστερίξ στους Βρετανούς
- Italian: Asterix e i Britanni
- Latin: Asterix apud Britannos
- Norwegian: Asterix hos Britene
- Polish: Asteriks u Brytów
- Portuguese: Asterix e os Bretões
- Serbian: Астерикс у Британији
- Spanish: Astérix en Bretaña
- Swedish: Asterix och Britterna
- Welsh: Asterix ym Mhrydain
