Persepolis and History

In the early half of "Persepolis," Marji begins to learn about the history of her family. As a history major, I have always been interested by history and enjoy exploring the history of my own family. In many ways, it seems like the history of one's family affects who that person is. Marji and her family are progressive because of her grandfather's personal history with the Shahs. In what other ways do Marji's family history play a role in her story of coming of age? Does her family's past affect who she becomes? Or does it help to create the ideal person she desires to be?

Persepolis the film

For our next "class," please watch Persepolis the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R97e6d0CNPk

We will then discuss the difference between comics-as-film and comics-as-book.

Great conversations so far!

Persepolis 151-250 Discussion Post

The latter part of Persepolis deals with Marji's awkward emergence into adulthood. As a child, she struggled to fit into the roles pressed upon her and frequently found herself at odds with other children. As an adult, Marji encounters a great deal of new experiences as she tries to assimilate in her new home. Do you believe exposure to different cultures and beliefs is healthy or destructive toward personal identity? Do you find the scenes involving Marji's astonishment regarding sexuality and domestic disobedience humorous or do you pity her? Also, are there any examples of her finding comfort in the traditional values of her childhood?

Matt Evans Persepolis Post

One major difference that I've noticed between Persepolis and Maus is the point of view from which we're seeing the violence that occurs. In Maus, we're seeing it from the eyes of a fully grown man, to whom a great amount of the violence is directed. In Persepolis, it's primarily from the eyes of a young girl no older than 14, who really rarely actually witnesses the violence, to a point where it almost becomes a sidenote to the life of Marji that we're going through. Do you think that the fact that we're getting it from the perspective of a child takes away from what really went on, or do you think it showed everything reasonably well?
If not...are they ways you think she could have shown it better? I know it's the true story from her perspective, but I feel like I don't know much more about the Iranian revolts and whatnot than I did before I read it.
Or do you think that's not even meant to be the focus of the story? I know it's a coming of age story about her during and after the revolts, but it still took me off guard how little of all that we actually witnessed.

I understand that I am not scheduled to create a blog posting at this time, however, I found a video that I thought would be of interest at this time with our class currently reading Persepolis. Since a great deal of the story is through the eyes of a child living through a revolution, I felt that this video would be a good example of something that could have been seen during the time line of the story.

I felt that this video helped me to better understand the characters and the setting of the story. Since I myself do not have such an experience, I find watching something like this helps in placing myself in the mindset of the characters. (Like method acting, but for reading.)

Comics and 1st-Person

So far, the two graphic narratives we've read in class have been powerful memoirs--1st-person stories of violence and loss.   Given what we remember from McCloud, particularly his assertion that comics artists encourage reader identification through their use of icons, the gutter, and closure, can we say that comics are a medium particularly appropriate for telling first-person stories?  What do you think?

For more on comics and the first-person, check out:

 this book on comics, gender, and first-person storytelling

or this great article on the "I" and comics

Resources on Ideology

Oxford Dictionary definition

History of Ideology

Ideology and the ruling class 

60-second intro to ideology on youtube

For information on Althusser and his idea of Ideological State Apparatuses, click here.