Hi readers,
My ASTU class has recently finished reading the graphic novel, Persepolis, which tells the story of the political unrest in Iran in the 1980s through the eyes of an adolescent girl. Even though this narrative takes place almost 4 decades ago, I believe this story rings true to the political landscape today. The Middle East has been a region of continued political turmoil, most notably today with the rise of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. In many ways Marjane’s story can be paralleled with other children who grew up in a time of war and eventually fled the country. A specific issue that Marji faced in the novel was her struggle with losing her right to the freedom of expression. This largely manifests itself through being forced to wear the veil. She rebels this by continuing to wear “western style” clothing. Today we see this loss of the freedom of expression in many ways, from being imprisoned due to a specific political alignment, sexual preference, et cetera. In terms of fashion, some western countries have attempted to impose restrictions on Muslim women to no longer wear the hijab in public. Even though this is the opposite issue of Marji in Persepolis since she did not want to wear the hijab, it can also be seen as the exact same issue since both examples involve a restriction on what women can wear in society.
Personally, I feel a deep connection with the struggles that Marji faces because even though I have not experienced the hardships of war firsthand, for the last two years I attended an international school in Armenia which is a border country of Iran. During those two years I learned a lot about Iranian culture and history from my classmates who were from Iran, and from living in a Middle Eastern/Caucasus country myself. I think one of the main responses to reading the book is a new understanding of Iran, especially since Marji is a character that other young people can identify with because she has similar coming of age struggles. This offers the perspective that we are more alike than different, regardless of what country we are from, which is the perspective that I gained from living in Armenia. Before studying abroad, I had a more conservative mindset towards the Middle East. I thought that it was a dangerous place that I had no interest in visiting. I know that the book does not offer a comforting image of Iran, however it does give rise to providing more liberal views on the Middle East in general. My views of the Middle East became more liberal as well once I discovered the beauty of the culture and generosity of the people.
It is interesting for me to read this book after having lived outside of Canada because I have a greater understanding of the significance of this piece of literature. I have actually read Persepolis before in my grade 9 English class, I remember enjoying it but I found it unsettling how conflict was normalized. Now reading it a second time, I was not distraught by the prevalence of violence in the book, in fact I am glad that the author chose to incorporate this element so that the audience can have an in-depth understanding of the traumas of that period.
