Dear readers,
This is currently in an exciting time in my ASTU 100 class, as we have cracked open our first text: Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis is a graphic narrative depicting the childhood of a girl growing up in Iran during the time of the Iranian Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War. I was thrilled to spot Persepolis on the syllabus at the beginning of the year as I was somewhat familiar with Satrapi’s work:
Growing up, if there was one thing that I was good at, it was drawing. My love for art, combined with my fondness of reading served as the perfect combination for my interest in comic books and graphic novels. Not only did I enjoy reading them, but I remember doing an entire unit in seventh grade on creating graphic novels and thinking to myself that it was right up my ally. So naturally, when my older sister had brought home Persepolis as an assigned class reading, I couldn’t help but dive into it. Reflecting back on my first impressions of the text, I remember my admiration for the crisp black and white illustrations that were so simple, yet conveyed so much substance and emotion, all while managing to highlight the text perfectly. Marji’s rebellious and spunky character, who paralleled my age at the time, also appealed to me as she added a layer of relatability and lightness to a text that otherwise depicted a world so drastically different from my own.
Although it is clear that the visual aspects of Satrapi’s work made a lasting impact on me, I was surprised to discover how little I remembered about the actual events and occurrences surrounding the story. In fact, opening Persepolis up again after so many years made me come to the realization of my how little I know in general regarding Iran’s dethroning of the Shah and the rise of the Islamic Regime, which had an extensive impact on the lives of thousands of Iranians as well as the future of Iran’s international relations. The majority of my knowledge surrounding Iran’s history comes from my “interpretive community”, a term recently exposed to me through an article that my class has been analyzing in my ASTU class by Farhat Shahzad. According to Shahzad, who is a scholarly educator, an individual’s remembering and learning strategies not only derives from textual sources, but also from a “collectivity of significant ‘others’”, such as teachers, family, friends, and other technologies of memory (Shahzad). For me, the interpretive communities that have influenced my learning about Iran consist of friends and media. A close friend of mine who was born in Tehran, Iran, has offered me great insight on what it is to be an Iranian citizen. She actually reminds me a lot of Marji’s character, mostly due to her rebellious and outspoken nature. Personally interacting with her and her parents has exposed me to Iran’s rich culture, as well as the reasons behind her family’s motivation for leaving their homeland. My second influence comes from a reality TV show that I occasionally watch called “Shahs of Sunset”. Obviously, reality TV shows such as this one should not be considered as fully credible sources of information, however, the cast of the show, who is made up of wealthy Iranian Americans living in Beverly Hills, often share how being Iranian has directly affected their lives and personal experiences. If there is one ide that I’ve gained from these two sources, it is the realization of the amount of rapid political and social change that has taken place in Iran over the past several decades. Cast members of Shahs of Sunset, who are all relatively young, have all expressed the drastic changes that prompted them and their families to leave Iran to lead lives that allow them to be fully free in who they are and what they do. This reaction is similar to my friend who left Iran for Canada, a place where she can find more opportunity and flexibility with her decisions. Both of these “others” have led me to conclude that it is not traditional Iran that has built this strict and radical reputation, but rather, it is the result of several recent shifts in power.
As a result of my scarce exposure to Iran’s history, there is a clear deficit in my knowledge concerning the historic events that occur in Persepolis. Reading Persepolis this time around, hopefully I will be able to better understand Satrapi’s deliberate visual choices, as I will be better equipped to more carefully examine the essence of the story and discover the realities of Iran’s past.
Works Cited:
Image:
“More than Words.” : Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, the Visual Construction of Identity, and “The Veil” Web. 1 Oct. 2015.
Article:
Shahzad, Farhat. “The Role of Interpretive Communities in Remembering and Learning.”Canadian Journal of Education 34.3 (2011): 301-316. Web. ProQuest. 28 Sept. 2015.