Currently, my ASTU class has been analyzing the graphic novel, “Persepolis”, by Marjane Satrapi. We have discussed a wide variety of its elements, drawing out both higher and lower levels of abstraction. Personally, I was pleasantly surprised by this novel and I appreciated how it was easy to read and engaging, while maintaining an arrange of complex; personal, emotional, social, and cultural aspects that you expect from a respectable novel. As a student who relies heavily on visuals to learn and compute information, I welcomed this type of reading with relief. It is my assertion, if I am permitted to generalize, that the visual nature of graphic novels give them the power to heighten the portrayal of these aforementioned aspects to the audience in a unique way.
Despite the strengths that graphic novels may possess, the genre appears to lack respect in the academic, adult-world and it is this that has caught my attention and curiosity. I first observed this while reading “Persepolis”. On more than one occasion, my peers questioned my choice of book and I would be required to explain the novel to them, testing my understanding. My description of the literature held their interest until they discovered its graphic nature. Once they heard that it was “a picture book” they immediately disregarded it as juvenile and lacking credibility. Throughout secondary school, I was never exposed to any sort of graphic literature, and from this absence it has been inferred that they are undeserving of a holding a place in academia. They are too easily dismissed and categorized as being of the same low level abstraction and substance as a Marvel comic book or a childhood bedtime story. Despite my observations there has been notable progress; in the scholarly arena graphic novels are currently enjoying a “newfound respectability” as exemplified by the fact that “Persepolis” has made it into our agenda this semester at all (Chute 92)! Perhaps it is only a matter of time before this is integrated into mainstream culture, exemplifying an acceptance of and movement towards the many diverse types of learning styles that exist in our societies.
Graphic literature has grown far beyond the typical comic book. To take this point further the graphic novel “Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War” uses similar visual elements to those in Persepolis to engage the reader. This heart breaking story of an abducted boy is presented in a digestible manner as to immerse and educate the reader in the life of child soldiers.
Works Cited
Satrapi, Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. New York: Random House, 2003. Print
Chute, Hillary. “The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis.” Women’s Studies Quarterly 36.1&2 (Spring/Summer 2008): 92-110. Web. JSTOR. 7 July 2015
Humphreys, Jessica Dee, and Claudia Vila. Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War. Print.