Hi,

We have recently started reading a graphic narrative called “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi in ASTU class. It is a narrative of the author’s childhood in Iran amid the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. When I first saw the inside of this assigned reading, I was surprised. A comic? After all, they tend to be associated with younger audiences, for recreational reading and to provide humour.

However, as I read, my preconceptions quickly changed. Instead, I found Satrapi’s use of the graphical narrative medium incredibly effective in presenting the serious topics of the book, such as war and violence. Let us look at two pages from the book:

Picture 1. Page 51 of Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis”. Picture taken by myself.

Picture 2. Page 125 of Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis”. Picture taken by myself.

The graphical narrative genre also has conventions of short phrases or sentences. The simple, straightforward language of “They burned him with an iron” in Picture 1 (p51) is direct and does nothing to veil the horrific reality. Similarly, Picture 2 is the narrative of Niloufar’s execution with descriptions of her being “spotted”, “arrested”, and “executed”. The fact that it is broken into three frames, with gutters separating them, slows down the pace in which the reader reads. This heightens the tension, and allows the reader to feel full force what is happening in the story.

Likewise, I was intrigued by how impactful the illustrations are despite their simple and iconic form. They are far from being realist, yet they are very real and conveys the message clearly. In Picture 1, the squint of Ahmadi’s eyes, and how wide his mouth is opened as he is being tortured is enough to convey the screaming and agony he must have felt to the reader. With Niloufar’s execution in Picture 2, the third picture is particularly striking as I have seen similar pictures in the news and can imagine it.

Since reading “Persepolis”, I have come to realise the power of graphic narratives and animation. I believe that it is an effective therapeutic strategy that should be promoted. Unlike many other forms of art (writing, poems, composing music, film-making etc.), the graphic narrative genre is accessible to the masses. In general, it is not restricted by age, literacy, education or skill level, or specialized equipment.

Furthermore, a graphic narrative is advantageous because it generates a visual representation of something. The clients are often people who have difficulty expressing – often young children, or people who had experienced traumatic events and the memories are too painful to be recalled and spoken about. Seeing it in front of them may be helpful for the client to reflect, gain some insight to long-unanswered questions or confusion in the mind, and become more self-aware. Visual representations will also enable the therapist to better understand the client’s inner thoughts by interpreting the story and asking the person to elaborate, and let them come up with “next steps” tailored for the client.

The “filtered” iconic illustrations of the graphic narrative genre may also help those who experienced trauma to revisit their memories when seeing real photographs is too much. They see, but don’t see. And often, word descriptions just aren’t as good. Hence, it also has wide applications in the education sphere. The filtered images are a good way to introduce or transmit knowledge about difficult topics to younger children where the gruesome graphics may be too much. While they may be light-hearted on the surface, nevertheless, they can effectively get across the deeper, darker topics at hand and plant questions in the children’s minds.

The graphic narrative genre is also superior to other art forms because it allows the creation of an “experiencing I” or “narrating I” that may be similar, but is separate from the person themselves. This may provide enough detachedness so that the suppressed, traumatic memories may be accessed and grappled with more easily, while staying true to the reality.

Through engagement in this therapeutic activity, the hope is that the client will be able achieve some kind of release from whatever they may be dealing with and possibly move forward.

As the saying goes: “A picture paints a thousand words”.

Works Cited:

Pages 51 and 125 of Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis”