L'Eugénisme pour les enfants: Heroes, Villains and Racial Purity in Le Téméraire

Despite the bande dessinée's decidedly juvenile focus and audience in the era surrounding the development of eugenicist philosophy, there nonetheless exists evidence within the early child-centred medium of engagement with, and depiction of, racial ideologies. This article presents an in-depth case study of eugenicist issues portrayed in Le Téméraire – a children's weekly illustré unique in its dissemination and espousal of the official ideals of Occupied France between 1943 and 1944. It considers how, using a combination of 'didactic' articles and adventure bandes dessinées, this unique publication repeatedly transmitted messages promoting racial hygiene and Aryan superiority to a 10- to 16-year-old readership.