'Mafalda' is a comic strip created by Quino (Joaquín Salvador Lavado) which appeared for the first time in 1964. In the beginning, it was aimed for a child audience, like 'Peanuts', but it finally attracted both adults and kids. Even though the main characters are kids and many dialogs have to do with silly issues, a lot of serious topics are addressed (like Third World problems and feminism, just to mention a few). Ocasionally, these kids have pretty interesting arguments, despite their young age.
Mafalda
es el personaje principal: una niña muy curiosa, que odia la sopa y ama a los
Beatles. Le encanta escuchar las noticias por la radio y enterarse de lo que
sucede en el mundo, pero también le gusta juntarse con sus amigos en el parque
y jugar a los cowboys. Sus amigos suelen enojarse con ella porque es un poco
pesimista, y sus padres la retan porque se preocupa por temas muy complejos en
vez de comportarse como los niños de su edad. El nombre “Mafalda” no es común
en Argentina. En la película “Dar la cara” del ’62 aparece un bebé con ese
nombre y Quino lo tomó como inspiración para su personaje.
Mafalda is the main character: a very curious girl who hates soup and loves The Beatles. She likes to listen to the news on the radio and know what's happening in the world, but she also likes to hang out with her friends at the park and play cowboys. Her friends usually get mad at her because she's a little pessimistic, and her parents tell her off because she worries about mature topics instead of behaving like children of her age. The name 'Mafalda' isn't very common in Argentina. There's a baby with that name in the movie from 1962 'Dar la cara', and that's where Quino got the idea.
Mafalda: 'But why do I have to do that?'
Madre: 'Because I'm your mother and I'm telling you to do so!'
Mafalda: 'If it's a matter of degrees, I am your child! ~ And we graduated on the same day, right?!'
Uno
de los primeros personajes secundarios que aparece es Felipe, un chico que es
un poco vago en la escuela y que se la pasa soñando despierto. Es un año más grande que Mafalda, por lo que
no van juntos al mismo grado, pero pasan mucho tiempo juntos. Es un chico
tímido, con dientes de conejo, y le encanta leer “El Llanero Solitario”. Mafalda
lo describe como “bueno y tierno”.
One of the first secondary characters we get to know is Felipe. He's a little lazy at school and he's a daydreamer. He's one year older than Mafalda, so they're not in the same class, but they spend a lot of time together nonetheless. He's a shy boy, who has bunny teeth and loves reading 'The Lone Ranger'. Mafalda describes him as 'good at heart and tender'.
Sign: 'Don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today'
Felipe: 'Well! From tomorrow on I will...'
Otro
de los personajes es Susanita, con quien Mafalda discute con bastante frecuencia.
Mientras Susanita quiere crecer, casarse, formar una familia y ser una buena
ama de casa, Mafalda sueña con recibirse y trabajar como traductora en las Naciones
Unidad porque quiere lograr la paz mundial. Susanita parece ser un poco
superficial, suele hablar mucho y le encantan los chismes. A veces es un poco
egoísta y también suele burlarse de Manolito, haciéndolo sentir tonto.
Another character is Susanita, with whom Mafalda usually argues. Susanita wants to grow up, get married, make a family and be a good housewife, while Mafalda dreams with going to college and working at the UN as a translator because she wants to achieve world peace. Susanita is a little frivolous, too talkative and loves gossiping. She can be a little selfish too and she usually mocks Manolito because he's dumb.
Susanita: 'Hi Mafalda! I came here to lend you some magazines'
Mafalda: 'Thank you! You're so kind! They're very pretty'
Susanita: 'Pst! Isn't it a little bitter to know that they aren't yours?'
Manolito
es el hijo de inmigrantes españoles, que ayuda a sus padres trabajando en el
almacén de la familia. Es bastante testarudo, ambicioso y tacaño, y le va mal
en la escuela. Odia a los Beatles (¡le molesta que usen el pelo largo!) y
muchas veces se burla de Mafalda y Felipe por sus gustos musicales. Suele
hacerle propaganda al almacén mientras está con sus amigos y es bastante
ingenioso con las ventas, mintiendo y bajando el precio de productos que en
realidad están en mal estado.
Manolito is the son of Spanish inmigrants and helps his parents in their family business (a grocery store). He's pretty stubborn, ambicious and stingy, and he's a bad student. He hates The Beatles (he doesn't like that they wear long hair!) and he makes fun of Mafalda and Felipe for their taste in music. He advertises the grocery store whenever he's with his friends, and he's very clever with sales ~ lying and lowering the price of products which are in bad state.
Teacher: 'If somebody didn't understand, please raise your hand ~ Okay, Manolito,
what didn't you understand?'
Manolito: 'From March until now... nothing!'
Miguelito
es más chico que el resto. Es un niño bastante imaginativo y siempre menciona que
su abuelito adora a Mussolini (aunque él no sepa muy bien quién es). Le
encantan los debates filosóficos y es bastante inocente.
Miguelito is younger than the rest. He's very imaginative and he always says his grandpa is fond of Mussolini (although he may not be very sure of who the guy is). He loves philosophical debates and he's pretty naïve.
Miguelito: 'Yesterday, as I was looking at the sky, I reached to a conclusion: there are
way more stars than needed'
Mafalda: 'Needed for what?'
La
última en aparecer es Libertad, una niña pequeñita que tiene opiniones muy
formadas y un carácter bastante fuerte. Suele enojarse con sus amigos y
maestras cuando no opina igual que ellos o cuando se habla de temas triviales.
The last one to appear is Libertad, a tiny little girl who has very strong opinions and a very strong personality. She usually gets mad at her friends and teachers if they think differently or when they talk about trivial topics.
Mafalda: 'Libertad, you're putting it upside down!'
Libertad: 'Upside down... according to what? The Earth is in Space, and there's
no up or down in Space'
Guille
es el hermano menor de Mafalda, pero pasa mucho tiempo con ella y sus amigos.
Es bastante travieso y, debido a su edad, es un nene muy inocente.
Guille is Mafalda's young brother, but he spends a lot of time with her and her friends. He's pretty mischievous and, because of his age, he's a very innocent boy.
Guille: [pronouncing incorrectly] 'My feet hurt!'
Mafalda: 'Well, of course, Guille! You put your shoes on the wrong feet!'
Guille: [pronouncing incorrectly] 'My pride hurts!'
La
tira dejó de emitirse en el ’73, aunque actualmente sigue apareciendo en
algunos diarios del país ya que los temas que trata siguen vigentes. “Mafalda”
ha sido traducida a distintos idiomas e incluso pueden conseguirse en Argentina
los libros publicados en inglés.
Personalmente,
esta es una de mis historietas favoritas. Crecí leyendo a Mafalda y fue mi
ídola durante toda mi niñez. A pesar de las diferencias, creo que tiene un
humor bastante parecido al de “Calvin & Hobbes”. Creo que es una tira muy
entretenida que nunca va a pasar de moda, y que todo extranjero estudiante de
español debería leer alguna vez, ya que tanto la historia y los personajes como
los temas que se tratan constituyen una parte muy importante de la cultura
argentina.
The strip ended in 1973, but it can still be found in some Argentinian newspapers since most of the topics still relate to the current situation of the world. 'Mafalda' has been translated to many languages and you can even find the books in english in Argentina. Personally, this is one of my favorite comic strips. I grew up reading 'Mafalda' and she was my childhood hero. Even though there are some differences, I think 'Mafalda's' humor is very similar to Calvin & Hobbes'. I think it's a very interesting strip that's never going to be out of date. Each foreign student who studies Spanish should read it some time: the story and the characters, as well as the topics mentioned are a huge part of the culture of Argentina.
*Disclaimer: The strips may not be perfectly translated... I tried my best!
