Mafalda is a comic strip character which was created by the famous Argentinian cartoonist Quino. She was first brought out in Argentina in 1964. Mafalda was a six-year-old girl, with a very generous heart and a caring attitude towards the world around her and the problems of this world at the time. Her comments on peace, war or the meaning of life were not typical of a child of her age but influenced both her home country and the whole of Latin America, Europe or Asia, where the comic was also released.
Mafalda ran on newspapers for ten years. Now, her creator has retired, although collections of the cartoon are still being published. She has had great influence on readers in relation to both great political issues and trivial everyday habits. For example, Mafalda’s preference for the Beatles and strong dislike for soup has been widely commented on and imitated by children of her time.
In 2009, to honour this adorable little girl, a life-size statue of Mafalda was placed on a bench in San Telmo, Buenos Aires, outside the old home of Quino. Tourists from all over the world sit every day beside her on this bench to take a photo of themselves with this kindhearted, smart child.
Activities
- Read the above text and answer the following questions:
- When was Mafalda first published and where?
- Can we still find copies of the cartoon?
- What made Mafalda unique?
- Give an example of her popularity and influence.
- What have people of Argentina done to honour Mafalda?
- Pay attention to passive structures in the text. Transform them into active ones.
- Watch this Mafalda video and describe what you saw in a paragraph.
- Look at this Mafalda comic strip. The words have been erased. Can you guess what they were?
- Here’s the original comic strip. How close were you?
- Use this template to create a cartoon of your own and decorate the walls of the class. Enjoy!
- Web quest: Find information on the internet about your favourite cartoon hero. Write a paragraph about him/her using as many passive sentences as you can.
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