In the Coordinated Arts Program stream, “Global Citizen”, our English class analyzes different pieces of literature and finds meaning in texts. We recently examined an article by the educational scholar Farhat Shahzad that introduced the term, “Interpretive Communities” and the effect these communities have on our perspectives. Shahzad states that these interpretive communities such as family, education, religion and culture affect the way we perceive events. Since we analyzed this text, I have been noticing the influence of these communities when reading or listening to a retelling of events.

In my English class with Dr. Luger, we have jumped into the quirky graphic memoire by Iranian author, Marjane Satrapi, titled Persepolis. After reading just the first couple chapters, I began to notice the strong influence that interpretive communities have on the main character, Marji.

In the first part of the book you can locate the interpretive communities that Marji responds to. Culture, religion, family, and education stand out and make their appearance known as influential. Religion and culture go hand in hand in the sense that they have a bi-directional relationship, mainly in the first couple chapters. Not only does Marji correspond with her image of God very frequently throughout the novel, but she dreams of being a prophet when she grows up. Because of the large role religion plays in her life, she sees most things through the lenses of prophet-like ideals. Later this dream deteriorates, as the culture surrounding her begins to frown upon her somewhat “absurd” future goals. The culture that engulfs her in Iran negatively affects her ideas of religion throughout the graphic memoire, and Marji begins to set new goals for herself through the social lens of what is “culturally appropriate”, and at that time its patriotism.

Another powerful interpretive community you can recognize throughout Satrapi’s graphic narrative is the ever-present family and educational community. Throughout Persepolis, Marji gets many different outlooks on the events in Iran thrust upon her. Her parents, who are against the king and both demonstrate regularly, influence the way she sees the war and government. While her parents may feel one way, her teachers and school claim to support the king and teach that loyalty to the government is good and necessary. As the story goes on, there are many places where Marji has conflicted feelings between believing books and the educational system, while remaining loyal to her families beliefs and ideals.

Though I state that all of these influences are as Shahzad writes, “Interpretive Communities”, as I read the novel and look at it from a Sociological lens as well, I can see these communities as also being social influences. I say this because Marjane Satrapi writes Marji to be very consciously aware of these different influential factors in her life and is constantly grappling with which one she should believe and trust. Are social influences and interpretive communities one in the same? Or can we make a clear distinction between them?

Sabine Ciechanowski

September 18, 2014

ASTU-Luger

In the article, The Role of Interpretative Communities in Remembering and Learning by Farhat Shahzad, different ways of remembering events are discussed. It appropriately states the idea that there are social influences on our perception and memory of these events. According to Shahzad, a community such as family plays an incredibly important role when one is recalling events or understanding meaning in moments.

In most cases we tend to unconsciously base our opinions and ways to approach situations through the metaphorical eyes of our families beliefs and ideals. Not only is ones family (mainly parents or guardians) seen as an authoritarian role in our lives, but compared to the other influential communities Shahzad mentions, one generally has a strong emotional attachment to family, which in my opinion makes them the strongest influence when recalling memories or interpreting historical events.

This theory, directly relates to some of the material I am learning about in my Family Context of Human Development class. In my custom FMST 210 textbook, it acknowledges the three main philosophical roots that relate to human development. The first is, Original Sin (Christianity), which states that all humans are born selfish and stubborn, and can only seek redemption by leading a disciplined and law-abiding life. In this regard, parents following this philosophical root tend to facilitate their child’s struggle to resist immoral acts by correcting their “evil” inborn tendencies. The second philosophical root is, The Blank Slate by the English philosopher John Locke that says children are born a blank slate, and parents can mold them into whatever they want them to be. The third philosophical root is referred to as, Innate Goodness, by the Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. This third root claims that all humans are naturally good and seek out experiences that help them realize their full potential. Parents following this approach believe that children need only nurturing and protection to help them grow.

These roots in relation to the article by Farhat Shahzad made me think about how these philosophical developmental approaches can effect how people witness events or recall memories. How does the way YOU were raised effect the significance or meaning you see in well-known events throughout history?