Hi ASTU class, 

This week’s blogs were mostly inspired by our reading of Persepolis, but also included issues on related to the articles we read on the hijab as a symbol of feminism, academic honesty regarding historical memoirs,  ,as mentioned in Irene’s blog and genre which was also a central topic in Kaspar’s and Simon’s blog.

Almost all blogs drew a parallel with the state of politics worldwide. I believe reading Persepolis was a wake-up call for all of us and made us reflect on different issues such as identity, feminism, mass surveillance, freedom of expression, religion and nationalism.

I believe that many of us felt that the events and violence depicted in by Marji were  foreign to us but as  Lisa  wrote “we may not be as far removed as we think”. She stated this after comparing mass surveillance as depicted in Persepolis with the uncovering of the NSA’s mass surveillance by Edward Snowden, and how today in North America we have the illusion of ‘being free’ when in reality we are very much under the lens of the government.

Furthermore, for Beril and Arvind, analysed  the parallels  of religious nationalism represented in Persepolis, with the current political situation in their home countries. Beril compared the current  Turkish governments claims on religiousness with the the frame in Persepolis where the boys are given the keys to heaven, if they join the army and fight for their country. Similarly, Arvind, could relate religious nationalism, in his country India, that has a very diverse population but also that a the Hindi majority has influence in the government and the potential dangers of a rise of religious nationalism. These blogs, brought , a seemingly foreign idea represented in Persepolis to the context of current politics in India and Turkey.

Another theme discussed in class, while reading Persepolis, was the veil. Lily, Oliver, Waimatha and Codi, comment on how their perspectives about the hijab have changed. Seeing the hijab as a symbol of feminism was thought-provoking as Codi mentions, because it helps us understand Satrapi’s opinion that even though she conveys the veil as a symbol of oppresion, she also disagress with the political opinion’s that suggest banning it because it is equallly oppressive. I also found very interesting, the question Waimatha addressed of religion as a fading element that is incompatible with modernity, but that then she mentions a hijab as example of Islam and feminism, a modern concept, fused.

Lastly, the oppression and fear were two themes explored in Evan’s and Jane’s blog. Jane examined the way fear is a primitive instinct in humans and that it can reveal aspects of our personality. She uses the frame in Persepolis when Marji, runs after the bombing fearing her family was dead. Which gives us an insight into her relationship with her family, and how that shapes her identity, which is also a concept Devon uses to explore Marji’s transformation throughout the book. Oppression, is an sentiment that the author conveys in different ways in Persepolis, but Evan, expands this definition from the political to the socioeconomic. He points out the cyclical nature of oppression and “how difficult it is to completely break a cycle of oppression once it has begun”.

I enjoyed greatly reading all of our blogs, all of them made me reflect and gave me food for thought. Having read Persepolis was a great learning experience, because even if at first, you think there is not much you would be able to relate to, it actually mirrors many of the problems we have in our world today.