In my ASTU 100 class’ discussions of Iranian-French writer Marjane Satrapi’s graphic narrative, Persepolis, we have focused some attention on the element of childhood that is intrinsic to Marji’s story. We follow her through her early adolescent years, from age ten to fourteen, as she juggles the normalcy of everyday life and the not-so-normal chaos of revolution and war. I have been most interested by how Satrapi has chosen to represent childhood: as a juxtaposition of the everyday experience—one that is somewhat universal in nature—with the horrifying, unnatural circumstances of war.
The universality of the everyday, which I have come to understand through the personal connections I have with Marji’s mentalitites and mindset as a child, speaks to the universality of the human condition. While we all have different experiences and cultures, we all had a childhood, we all grew up and navigating the complexities of life. More specifically, the commonness between all children, every childhood, gives Persepolis the ability to act as a memoir, a tender reflection of childhood, and allows each and every reader to connect to Marji in a very personal way. To give a few examples, Marji’s spunk and spirit to understand and revolutionize her world with her Marxist views, the ease with which she assimilates the passions of her parents as revolutionaries, her ignorance of more mature events (in her case, the horrifying inhumanity of torture), and the innocence in which she understands serious issues, such as encroaching fundamentalists forcing her to wear the veil, are all characteristic of the mentality of a child—how every person understands and reacts to events they experience at a certain age.
While this universality of the childhood experience is certainly a real occurrence, another less pleasing explanation for this is what is known as in Sociology as cultural imperialism. This is defined as “the imposition of one dominant culture on other cultures” and often has negative consequences on local culture (Guppy and Ritzer 136). The dominance of Western culture over Marji’s native Iranian culture is clear in her choice of idols as she enters her pre-teen years: Kim Wilde, Michael Jackson and Iron Maiden top the lists. She rebels by showcasing Nike shoes and a jean jacket—elements of Western material culture. She rejects many material aspects of the Iranian culture—wearing the veil and following Muslim practices.
This can be interpreted further as one of the effects of globalization. Part of the imperialist power of Western culture comes from the spreading of ideas and values that globalization expedites. Looking at Marji’s life, how could this embracing of a culture that was not her own have affected her childhood? Is she less Iranian because she embraces these ideas? Does she, in this way, signify the impending global age, where cultural diversity fades away?
Today, American culture is more and more dominating global force. This is actually referred to in our Sociology textbook as Americanization: the encroachment of American values and ideals on local elements of culture. One example of this is the spread of fast food chains like McDonalds and Starbucks (Guppy and Ritzer 136).
There’s no way to have a definite answer, but I ask myself again and again: why do I relate to Marji so well? Is it because of the simple fact that we are both human—we both are individuals, aging and maturing, even through our separate lives? Or is it because of the growing global force of Western ideals, especially American ideals? Is it because Marji, as she grows up, embraces part of my culture, leaving some of her own behind? In this day and age, does being in a non-Western culture involve embracing Western values?
And most importantly, what does this mean for the diversity of humankind? Simply put, is this good or bad?