Mafalda & Friends Role Play

A few weeks ago I wrote about Quino, one of the most important cartoonists in the Spanish-speaking world, and how he was named one of the Prince of Asturias Award winners this year. Don Joaquin Lavado, Quino's full name, is recognized internationally for being the "father" of that little girl who this year will celebrate 50 years in print. Incredibly, Mafalda retains the freshness and intelligence that has always characterized her in the cartoon strip of the same name.

The Mafalda Comic in the Classroom

As a loyal follower of this comic which is famous for its irony, tenderness and deep thoughts; I haven't stopped thinking about how I can apply the brilliant dialogue and important ideas (always presented in an intelligent manner) that this comic offers the Spanish language classroom.

To bring this comic to life in the classroom, we can start with presenting the class a selection Mafalda comic strips (This is very practical since showing a selection of comics with four or five squares each and not necessarily related to one another, means that we will not need a lot of time to "enter" into the world of Mafalda) with the idea of getting to know some of the more popular characters that exist in this world. We should pay attention not only to their physical appearance but also to their personality. By doing this, we can develop some interesting exercises for classes starting at the A2 level where students are beginning to express physical and character descriptions. For higher levels of Spanish we can incorporate more details, nuance etc.

There are nine recurring characters in Mafalda: Mafalda, her parents, Felipe, Manolito, Susanita, Miguelito, Guille and Libertad. Once we introduce the characters to the class, we can solicit questions and clear up any doubts related to the linguistic peculiarities of Argentine Spanish; for example the voseo, Argentine vocabulary… By doing this we are preparing the way for the students to analyze the personality of each character.

Here are some suggestions for a basic characterization for each personality:

Mafalda: Idealist and utopian but pessimistic. She's an Environmentalist and pacifist who is also a Beatles and Woody Woodpecker fan. She hates soup.

Padre: He is the only person (of the principal characters) whose name is unknown. He works in an office but when he's home he suffers the non-stop and, sometimes, uncomfortable questions Mafalda asks him—this also make him feel insecure. He drives a Citroën 2CV.  

Madre (Raquel): Mafalda's mother is a typical 60's housewife who does all the housework and doesn't drive.  She studied music but stopped playing when she got married. She is a humble and selfless person.

Felipe: He is slightly older than Mafalda. He is a dreamer with a sometimes uncontrollable imagination. He is also shy, absent minded and lazy. He's always stressed about elementary school; he loves the Beatles and plays chess. He is also a neighbor of Mafalda's.

Manolito: The son of the neighborhood shopkeeper, whose shop is called the Almacen de Manolo. He represents capitalist ideas and conservative thinking—he is the stereotypical Galician immigrant. He's ambitious, materialistic, a little rude but deep down he's a good person. He hates the Beatles and credit—he only thinks in cash.

Susanita: A friend of Mafalda's, she loves to talk, argue and gossip. She's a bit racist, classist and worried about her looks and what others in the group may say about her. She represents the traditional role of women and next to Mafalda, she makes her seem more contemporary, almost a feminist.

Miguelito: Always asking philosophical questions, he's an even bigger dreamer than Felipe. Of Italian origin, he defends the image of Mussolini that his grandfather instilled in him. He's a charming kid and he knows. With this, he uses his smile and dreamy eyes frequently to get what he wants. His hair is reminiscent of a plant.

Guille: Mafalda's little brother. He's a bit of a rascal (as his age would indicate), he's in love with Bridgette Bardot and his love for soup drives his sister crazy. When he first appeared, Guille had problems speaking correctly and he used a pacifier. With the passing of time he no longer uses a pacifier and his speaking and pronunciation has improved like a "normal" kid.

Libertad: This is the last person to appear. She is a very short social radical who is critical of the status quo. She is near the ideas and philosophy of Mafalda but she is more of an idealist. Her father is a socialist and her mother is a French translator.

Once we have gotten to know a little better the world of Mafalda, we can move on to the exercise focused on this comic strip:

1. Do a class brainstorming exercise where the class makes questions that these characters would ask like: Should math be prohibited in school? Why haven't the Beatles won a Nobel? Should soup be illegal?
2. With the brainstorming completed, each student in class should be given a character from the ones we've talked about.
3.  They should proceed to make a paper mask of the character they have been assigned.
4. With time to prepare individually, the students should consider the topics and questions that arose during the brainstorming—from the perspective of their character.
5. The students, now with their masks on and in character, will discuss the topics attempting to recreate the feeling of a Mafalda comic.

In my (our) experience, this is an activity that works very well and requires the students to come out of their shells and portray a predetermined character that they have analyzed beforehand. I am sure that not only will the class laugh a lot, but also learn in way that is fun and enriching.