Dear readers,
It has been around 2 weeks since my last blog and being equipped with more knowledge and thoughts, I hope this blog will be more interesting . During classes, we have been discussing and analyzing “Persepolis” all the way from the paratexts to the history background of the story. Although we have not discussed much on the story itself, we did study the context and genre of the book.
Being inspired by the book “Maus” by Art Spiegelman, Persepolis carries some of the similar characteristics. As a historical account based around the political and religious topic of Iran, Persepolis has taken the “comic” approach to describe the life of Marji during the Iran-Iraq war.
How exactly does Persepolis deliver such a powerful story through the form of “Comic”? The characteristics of comic as discussed in class are as follows : comic should be fast-paced, easy to read, humorous while carrying elements of mass culture and symbolism. Such characteristics allow the author to convey a certain message in a casual and easy-to-read way while allowing the readers to reflect on the symbolism and deeper meaning. The “comic” approach in story telling has always been popular in mainstream media especially in the teenagers and children market. While looking at the case of Persepolis, I started to wonder the usage of comic in greater or more “serious” issues.
Before I analyse the effect and impact of comic in our life, here is an examples of comics in a more serious contexts. The most commonly found example is political comics and caricatures. Such comics can be found on newspaper or news media which includes social media pages. Political comics captures the features of politicians or the key events on incidents, then add in exaggerated drawing to criticize certain people or incidence in a sarcastic way. The difference between political comic and teenage comic is the requirement in basic knowledge of the political situation in order for reader to understand the further meaning.
However depending on the publisher or author, such comic often carries a strong message or bias. For example bias toward political parties or certain politician may be expressed in the comic. Therefore under the hypersocial way of life in which articles and pictures are being constantly scared, one must be aware that bias are meant to be in political comic. While political parties or different stakeholders would try their best to take advantage of the social media, the skill of critical thinking and to analyse an issue comprehensively is crucial. Not only does it allow you to become more aware of the society, but also preventing yourself from being deceived by the others.
And when I said “people are being deceived by others”, yes, I am referring those who still think climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese.