“One can forgive, but one should never forget” – Marjane Satrapi

Written by Marjane Satrapi

For a brief amount of time, our class explored into the historical political struggles of countries and the stories which were told which gave voices to the voiceless allowing them to retell their traumatic experiences. We heavily focused on Persepolis, an autobiographical graphic memoir written by Marjane Satrapi published in 2003 (English Translation). The historical context of Persepolis was during and after “the Islamic revolution” in 1979 and the Iraq-Iran war. Satrapi depicts the details of her childhood up until her pre-teen years through black and white comic illustrations in order to enhance the message of her text. She focused on “visual literacy” and attempted to allow readers to comprehend the codes and contexts of language through pictures and spoken verbal communication in the dialogues within Persepolis. Satrapi’s intended message as mentioned in the introduction of Persepolis was “to show the West’s perception of modern Iran as an Islamic Fundamentalist country filled with fanaticism and terrorism…..” however, that was far from the truth. She wanted to ensure that those Iranians who lost their lives in Prisons defending freedom; who died in the war against Iraq, who suffered under various repressive regimes; who were forced to leave their families and flee their homeland should NOT be forgotten.

When reading Persepolis and discussing it during class, I felt as if we were really able to see through the black and white illustrations; the gutters and the positioning of the panels to understand what life was like under repressive regimes. It brought me back to the central theme of “memory” and how Satrapi was narrating a personal story and her purpose also served as a voice for a collective group, which was the people she wanted to make sure weren’t forgotten. This nicely tied in relation to Sarah Polley’s documemoir, the “Arts of Resistance” exhibition curated by Dr. Laura, and Rigoberta Menchu’s resistance literature autobiography, I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian woman in Guatemala. All the previous works we have looked at in ASTU has been a really beneficial contribution to my knowledge and understanding about stories being told under different contexts, time periods and varied styles. I particularly enjoyed reading Persepolis and watching the film in my own time as I was so drawn to the black and white illustrations and her use of colloquial language making it much easier to understand what Marji (Satrapi as the protagonist in Persepolis) experienced. I learned about insights regarding the Islamic Revolution and life growing up in Iran. Even though I have heard many stereotypes regarding Iran and the Middle East in general, I wasn’t fully aware of the Islamic fundamentalists which were quite brutal and depicted a symbol of oppression and conflicts which rose from authoritative power.

In contemporary culture, the issue of labeling Iran and other Middle Eastern countries as the source of terrorism and terrorist attacks is evident and often comes into conflict with social norms of what is acceptable and unacceptable in society, for instance; wearing the veil. In addition, Satrapi intended to represent Iran through giving her personal insights and stories in order to disprove the stereotype of Islam being seen as the “Axis of Evil” after the 9/11 crisis in New York. President George W. Bush’s speech built in stereotypical images of how North Korea, Iran, and Iraq were part of the “Axis of Evil” saying that these countries threatened the peace in the world. Hence, the media eventually adopted this stereotype until today causing more accusations towards these countries. This made me think about the stereotype assignment which I completed for sociology where we had to watch a Ted talk by Adichie and she mentioned that “by showing a group of people as only one thing, over and over again…and that is what they become.”  The implies the danger which the media has influence over in the circulation of ideas within our society.

Whereas on the other hand, in some countries such as China, Iran, and Myanmar there are authoritarian governments who control what kind of information comes in and comes out of the country regarding the circulation of media and information in the country. For instance, Persepolis was censored in Iran and the government made sure that it was banned and Iranians wouldn’t be able to purchase the book or watch the film. This related to what I learned in my political science class regarding the impact of the media and how it served as a check on the executive power of the state and it determined how citizens perceived the politics and the state. Relating to what I learned in political science, I wondered if Iran during the Islamic Revolution adopted a fascist or totalitarian ideology where they used mass media not to inform the public but to confuse and divide them between the resistance and those who were with the regime.

Coming back to Persepolis, Satrapi published this comic book in France where there was a debate regarding whether or not women should be able to wear the veil in public places; hence she stereotypes Islam as oppressive against women and she attempts to go against this anti-Islamic fervor. Another modern example of issues which resonate with Persepolis would be the implementation of the law where they banned facial coverings in public in 2017, Quebec. Apparently, the Canadian province is excluding public workers from wearing the veil and “obliging citizens to unveil while using public transport or government services”. Philippe Couillard (the premier of Quebec), mentioned that this law was enforced due to issues linked to communications, identification, and safety because they are in a free and democratic society. He stated “You speak to me, I should see your face, and you should see mine. It’s as simple as that.” However, the Liberal government failed to see the kind of effect it would have on citizens living in Quebec who are obligated to wear the veil due to their social practices. The enforcement of this law caused hate crimes to increase by 253% between 2012 to 2015 where Canadian Muslims were targeted. Reading this article made me upset as it contradicts what the government said earlier about being a “free and democratic society” however they are not allowing those who may be Islam or Muslim to wear express their freedom by giving them the choice of being able to choose what they wear and when they wear it.

When reading Persepolis, I definitely felt like Marji’s struggles and the trauma she faced throughout her life was extremely challenging to relate to. It feels as if Marji’s life is a world away and is a true depiction of the terrors of war. I wonder how I would feel if I woke up every single day to the sound of gunshots, screaming, and explosions. Not only did she see, hear, and breath chaos during a considerable amount of her childhood but she faced oppression, inequalities, death, tragedy, and trauma. However, on the bright side, I thought that Marji portrayed a strong heroic image of women empowerment and an adolescent who was fearless, not being afraid to express her feelings or opinions. Satrapi’s courage to be able to write and publish this book inspired me as she took a risk in showing herself to us to beautifully narrate her story of what life was REALLY like in Iran.

One thing that I could think of which somehow related my experience to Marji’s struggle was Muslim Indonesians who discriminated against Chinese Indonesians. In my country, I am seen as a Chinese Indonesian and felt somewhat discriminated against society because I wasn’t allowed to wear certain outfits or clothes which were more revealing. My parents would always remind me to dress appropriately to ensure that I wasn’t catching attention or drawing trouble in my direction. Another example I could think of was some of my Muslim friends who also attended International schools, were more privileged and educated allowing them to be more expressive of who they were and how they wanted to present themselves. However, they didn’t wear the veil because they didn’t like it and only wore the veil on special occasions. They personally felt like they were neglected or looked at in a peculiar way which made them also feel discriminated against the majority of society who were also Muslim but wore the veil.

Persepolis was an eye-opener for me because I wouldn’t have necessarily thought about the political and social concerns which were affecting people in Middle Eastern countries such as Iran. Satrapi allowed me to understand the representation of religion, war, and symbols of oppression within her country but also reminded me of the memories of joy she had during her childhood. In contemporary culture, some of these issues are still evident and are hard to overlook when the impact of the media is extremely influential to our generation and our perception of others. However, we have to constantly remind ourselves that stereotypes do not define a society. As Marji shows us, she has her memories of the war and revolution which may emphasize the loss of many loved ones and her struggles of oppression, but she also emphasized the moments which are well cherished with heroic images of her family members.