Conrad Barber
Persepolis is a very interesting autobiography by Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian woman. She tells the story of her childhood in the form of a comic, which delves into her personal life growing up, while also presenting a historical account of the surrounding events. One aspect I found interesting is that every once in a while, the author will pause and present some little anecdote or tidbit of historical or cultural information, which is not necessarily vital to the story but helps to enhance the reader's understanding Iran in this time period. When this information is being presented, it comes in the form of a talk bubble from the author's character Marji, who is the sole item in the frame, seems to be looking directly at the reader, and is usually holding up one finger, indicating she is making a point.
So what is the significance of this pause in the storyline to present some facts? Obviously the biggest and most prominent effect of these kind of random statements is to present information that the reader probably did not previously know, such as "According to Shiite tradition, when an unmarried man dies, a nuptial chamber is built for him. That way, the dead man can symbolically attain carnal knowledge." These kinds of little factoids are not necessary, but they do help us as non-Iranian readers to better understand the culture and the story. If she hadn't inserted that frame with the quote I mentioned, we would have no idea of the significance of the nuptial chambers for fallen soldiers. Again, not absolutely necessary, but good to know.
So then if we can agree that the author wants us to become more educated on Iranian culture, then next question I will address is 'why?'. This can be answered with the argument that the author is trying to get us as readers to experience the lives of these people, to put ourselves into their shoes for a change rather than just reading headlines and prejudging them simply because they are from Iran. It seems like nowadays the entire Middle East is more or less considered hostile and terroristic by the general American public. Obviously these views represent an ignorant generalization and are totally unfounded. By really getting the reader to imagine life in wartime Iran, the author is able to present the opposite viewpoint, that not everyone is these countries hates Western civilization, and that we cannot judge the morals of any individual person based on the policies of their government. The other times we see the character of Marji facing the "camera" with her finger held up is whenever she is making some sort of claim, or stating some sort of revolutionary phrase or fact. This is probably not unintentional and the author meant to maybe connect the actual facts to the views of Marji and her revolutionary family, as if to say their standpoint is based on facts.
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I found those little asides to be interesting as well. However, I'm going to play devil's advocate and argue that those extra facts are not only necessary, but crucial to the narrative over all. Satrapi creates a rich context with these asides that increases our knowledge of the culture and political world in which she was raised. Without this context, the story would be a lot simpler in a bad way, and would have greatly diminished reader involvement in the story not only because she directly addresses them, but because of the information presented itself. In this way, Satrapi creates a well-rounded story that connects rather than separates people.
ReplyDeleteThe asides could serve another purpose, whether intentional or not, to illustrate Marjane's own development. When she was growing up, I'm sure there were many moments when these same issues had to be explained to her, and now she is passing it along. Her father telling the story of the Shah's family is a good example.
ReplyDeletei also notices the fairly frequent frames where she was standing alone and literally narrating to the reader. i think the inclusion of facts about iranian culture help us as americans to connect to the story more. i felt, for instance, that the fact about the nuptial chambers is really emotionally impacting. so pretty much i agree with your post.
ReplyDeleteaside from the obvious function of providing information, it gives a face to the narrator. you feel as though a friend is telling you a story, instead of just reading the biography of a stranger. actually, because of those frames, the narrator (in my head at least) was not a full grown sartapi smoking cigarettes and drinking wine in france, but a young girl in a jean jacket telling me from a child's perspective what had happened. but that could just be me being a full blown headcase. either way, meh.
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