Hello readers,
Hope you enjoyed your thanksgiving break!
Today I would like to identify how the theme of “never forgetting” based on memory and remembering can be represented visually. The Memory Painting by Xavier Cortada and the graphic narrative Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi are going to help to display and identify the theme of “never forgetting” from a visual perspective.
In The Memory Painting, Xavier Cortada is able to display the complexity of the term memory. In his work, a shard coming from an enclosed shaped located on the horizon of the painting perforates an individual’s neck.The horizon represents the past events the man passed through. The fact that the horizon passes through the man’s neck shows how present events will become past events and how future awaits as well.This painting shows how the physical body has a connection with memory as well. As Kate Flint says “The exercise of memory is an activity which renders mind and body inseparable” (Flint 527). The body is able to recall past events with the help of nervous systems that affect perception. The rooms placed on the back of the painting represent the action of remembering past events. Each room represent different memories found in the man’s brain. The face expression of the man reflect the nature of recall and how humans reconstruct the past through their own minds.
On the graphic novel Persepolis the depth of memory and remembering is expressed through the monochromatic use of flat colors such as white and black and the use of three different types of visual voices. The depth of memory in Satrapi’s work is identified when some of the panels on the narrative have black backgrounds. This emptiness demonstrates that while Satrapi recalls all the events she passed through, she is not able to find the perfect words and drawings to demonstrate the feelings and emotions she passed through during the Islamic Revolution. The three different visual voices found on this graphic narrative are: Satrapi as the author, Marjane as the narrator and Marji as the child protagonist (Chute 97). All of these contribute to the fact that during this graphic novel the theme of never forgetting is present through the different versions Satrapi shows about herself. These different versions helps to understand how Satrapi shows the state of being memory.
On both pieces memory and remembering are keywords which contribute to the whole understanding of the idea of “never forgetting”. As shown above it is possible to understand the function of never forgetting through the visual arts and graphic narratives.
Were you able to identify memory and the action of remembering in other pieces of art or literature?
Maria Zegarra
Chute, Hillary. “The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis.” Women’s studies Quarterly 36.1&2 (Spring/Summer 2008): 92-110.
Flint, Kate. 2003. “Painting Memory.” Textual Practice 17(3):527-42.
