Hello again!

I don’t know if you’re like me, but if you are, you can’t wait for Canadian Thanksgiving!  I can already smell the turkey and stuffing! Yum!

On a less positive note, for the past couple weeks in my ASTU class we have been talking about the Graphic Narrative Persepolis.  This week we have focused on The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, a scholarly essay written by Hilary Chute.  In the essay, Chute talks about how Marjane uses a graphic narrative to convey her story.  She discusses how the images are in black and white and the significance behind it.  A particular portion of this essay that has sparked a large amount of interest in me is the idea that violence is seen as ordinary.  Chute talks about how Satrapi uses black and white images along with plain titles to convey trauma as something ordinary.

This is something that I feel is very relevant to the perspectives of much of the world today.  There is conflict throughout most of the world and I personally know that when I heard about it, I wasn’t surprised.  When I step back and think about it, it’s saddening to think that this killing and war is all too normal.  The last century has brought too much violence upon the world and it has changed the way people perceive it.

The ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) conflict occurring right now in the Middle East is frightening but as I sit in my living room writing this, I am not overly surprised at what is happening.  There has been much conflict in this area of the world for the past decade and it is nothing new.  The violence that occurs in the Middle East has become almost expected.  This violence that occurs is horrible but I know speaking for myself, I find it extremely ordinary, even though it should not be.  This kind of violence is seen so often that we become accustomed to it.

ISIS soldiers are attempting to take over Iraq and so far have proved effective in doing just that.  They take no mercy on the people who do not support them and usually execute them on the spot.  In a recent UN report it was stated that “the number of children manning ISIS checkpoints is increasing” (Smith).  This seems so far fetch to me that it’s hard to believe that it actually happens.  If you would like more information, this video gives an accurate explanation of what is going on in regards to ISIS.

Looking back at Persepolis, I can begin to truly understand why Satrapi used black and white to relate to how violence is ordinary.  Creating these images without colour was the best way to do that because it allows us to understand that even though violence is shown as ordinary, it should not been seen this way.  Chute suggests that the use of “plain titles, most of which commence with the definite article “the” and are followed by a commonplace noun, denotes the ordinariness Satrapi is intent on underlining, even when the events depicted appear extraordinary” (Chute 105).

This article has encouraged me to reflect on how I view the violence in my world and I am sad to say that I agree with the idea that violence has become this ordinary image in our world.  It makes me wonder that if we could change this view of violence, could we also put an end to the fighting, killing and war?

It makes me wonder…

Chute, Hillary. “The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis”” Women’s Studies Quarterly 36.1/2 (2008): 92-110. The Feminist Press at the City University of New York. Web. 5 Sept. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/27649737>.

Smith, Samuel. “UN Report on ISIS: 24,000 Killed, Injured by Islamic State; Children Used as Soldiers, Women Sold as Sex Slaves.” CP World. 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 9 Oct. 2014.