Persepolis & Orientalism: a critique of the reception history of Satrapi's memoir
Date
2012
Authors
Barzegar, Lila, author
Taylor, Cynthia, advisor
Eskew, Doug, committee member
Souder, Donna, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
Since its publication in 2003 Marijane Satrapi's Persepolis series, it has met surprisingly little negative criticism in comparison to other recent, highly commercialized memoirs written by Iranian women. For instance, Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran has sparked an interesting controversy concerning the topical atmosphere and stereotypes contributing to the popularity of Iranian women's memoirs, particularly memoirs concerning the Iranian community at a time of increasing US intolerance towards the current political powers and cultural ideology of Iran. Not only does Satrapi's memoir fall under such criticism, but that it can also be seen as more threatening to the perpetuation of anti-Iranian and anti-Islamic sentiments than Nafisi's memoir. Several factors contributing to this claim are its accessible graphic form, appealing child protagonist, and liminality of the author's position. I will also explore the academic credibility that graphic novels have achieved in the past decade and uncover the geopolitical climate and marketing variables of Satrapi's Persepolis success in Euro-America. Moreover, through analysis of this hybrid text, I will discuss the instances that reinforce stereotypes through the symbol of the veil as well as the depiction of Islam, without the context of the religion or culture. Such omission of context assists to perpetuate such beliefs that Islamic countries are backward and barbaric and that the West should intervene to liberate oppressed people.