Initial thoughts

I am very unfamiliar with the genre of graphic novels and reading Persepolis was a great introduction to the world of graphic novels. I am familiar with a few semi-autobiographical novels which made Persepolis all the more interesting to read. I felt as though I was experiencing the novel as well as reading it due to the images created by Satrapi in the memoir.

The memoir’s focus on Iran’s political climate at the time as a key influence in Marjane’s life connected very well to the idea of the Sociological Imagination which we have been learning about in another CAP class, Sociology. The Social Imagination is a concept born from a book written by C. Wright Mills which aims  to highlight the link between personal problems to public issues. Satrapi’s memoir exemplifies exactly that due to it’s constant mention of the role of historical events and issues on Marjane’s life. The issues and experiences she faces are usually intertwined with, influenced, and often interrupted by, the revolution that is taking place in Iran. She portrays this influence through many various panels in the memoir as well as through the narrative texts paired with these images.

To make mention of one of these, in the chapter titled “Kim Wilde” we see a slightly older Marjane walking and singing along to a song which is a personal experience of hers as it showcases what most would consider a normal young girl coming of age and listening to popular music. This experience is interrupted by the “guardians of the revolution” who stop Marjane in order to put her “back on the straight and narrow by explaining the duties of muslim women” (Satrapi, 2000). Satrapi provides a narration of this experience in order to give readers an understanding of the historical place that Marjane is in while showing us through the images in the panel  what Marjane is experiencing on a personal level. We see her smiling in satisfaction at her newly acquired Kim Wilde CD, enjoying the music and singing it privately.

These particular panels, like many others in the memoir, highlight the main concept of the Sociological Imagination which aims to connect personal experience to public issues. Marjane’s experience, while being extremely personal, represents a larger issue in Iran, that of censorship.

I found this connection between the two courses quite interesting and viewing the sociological imagination through a literary lens helped me understand the concept a lot better. It broadened my understanding of Persepolis as a graphic novel while giving me an example, through Persepolis, of how personal issues link to public problems.

Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis, Pantheon Books, 2003