Historising Épidemaïs – West Asian Characters in the Comic Series ‘Asterix the Gaul’ Against the Background of Historical Sources, the 20th-Century-Zeitgeist and the Current Discourse on Orientalism

In this article, Épidemaïs, the Phoenician merchant in the comic series Asterix the Gaul, and other characters representative of ancient West Asian cultures, namely the Sumerians, Akkadians, Hittites, Assyrians and Medes, are analysed with regard to their historically accurate or stereotyped representation. Even if it has already been made clear several times that the characters and their narratives in the comic series should not be understood as historically accurate, such accuracy is repeatedly attributed to them. First, it will be demonstrated on the basis of some well-known case studies why this is the case. In a subsequent step the results will be applied to an analysis of the West Asian characters. It will be discussed whether the historical reference dominates or whether they rather represent stereotypical characteristics that associate them with the time of their creation in the 20th century, and how to deal with these results.