Academic: Are the Smurfs Crypto-Fascists?

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Eric Preau / Sygma / Corbis

Pierre Culliford, creator of the smurfs, and his wife in their studio in November 1983.


The stars of an upcoming summer blockbuster, the world-famous Smurfs are once again the talk of the town — though not necessarily for all the right reasons.

Known as Schtroumph in the original French, Puffi in Italian, Pitufos in Spanish, Stroumfakia in Greek, Kumafu in Japanese and Schlümpfe across the Rhine (since "schtroumpf" means "sock" in German), the little blue imps have been going strong for more than half a century, entertaining children the world over in comic books, animated cartoons and feature films.





Peyo came up with the word "Smurf" while dining in 1958 with his friend André Franquin. Peyo reportedly asked Franquin: "could you pass me the Smurf?" He meant to say "could you pass me the salt?" The rest is cartoon history.

The spirit of an era

Born in 1928 in Brussels, Peyo lived in German-occupied Belgium. As an adult, he did not look back fondly on that time in history. Nonetheless, Buéno thinks that "a piece of work can convey an imagery that the author himself does not support. Thus, the Smurfs seem to reflect more the spirit of an era than Peyo's political leanings."

The Smurfs are self-sufficient. Smurf society is collectivist and interventionist. Its only leader, Papa Smurf, is all-powerful. And, like Stalin, his favorite color is red.

They all eat at the canteen and are all ridiculously puritan. In "The Black Smurfs" album, racism is obvious: blood purity becomes something vital and the dark brown Smurf is referred to as "the ugly one." In another album called "Smurfette," Buéno notes how the Aryan blond is idealized.

The Smurfs are also united against a sworn enemy called Gargamel, a large-nosed, black-haired possibly anti-Semitic caricature, and his cat Azrael.

Smurf lovers have been quick to challenge Buéno's "Little Blue Book," saying his arguments are neither serious nor credible. "Generally speaking I've gotten two types of knee-jerk reactions: people saying that I'm either an idiot, or a crook," says Buéno's.

"But my analysis isn't just coming out of nowhere," he goes on to say. "People from other institutions have been looking at [the Smurfs] before me. People in the United States at one point suspected Peyo's Smurf albums of being socialist propaganda, going so far as to say the word Smurf was actually an acronym for 'Small Men Under Red Forces.'"

After Peyo died in 1992, his son, Thierry Culliford, continued to draw the Smurfs. Culliford's albums offered a much more educational approach. According to Buéno, that explains why "the Smurfs' village becomes more explicitly a metaphor for reality."

The Smurfs make their next big appearance this summer in a 3D live-action movie directed by Raja Gosnell. The blue-colored creatures will besiege New York City for the occasion.

But before the movie is released, the Lombard Editions will publish a 29th album called "The Smurfs and the Golden Tree," and in November, "the Smurf Encyclopedia".

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