MARJANE SATRAPI
Historical BACKGROUND
Work
Critical reception
Context
Social Class
Political beliefs/ideology
Videos
Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969 in Rasht, Iran.
Style of Persepolis
Persepolis is a novel of a graphical nature. The illustrations in the novel are black and white. The lines are bold and clear and there is no use of fancy techniques.
Written in her youth Marjane lived in a society of two extremes, of Iran following the Islamic Revolution, where violence and fear were commonplace, and Vienna during the punk movement, where freedom of expression allowed. Persepolis is the story of her time growing up in both environments, learning of life through her experiences.
Religion
When at the age of 6, Marjane believed herself to be a prophet to end injustice. This belief in God would grow until her uncle was killed by Islamic Fundamentalists.
graphic novels were generally well received in Western countries
TIME included the first part in its "Best Comics of 2003"
TIME described Persepolis as "sometimes funny and sometimes sad but always sincere and revealing."
In March 2013, the Chicago Public Schools controversially ordered copies of Persepolis to be removed from seventh-grade classrooms, after Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett determined that the book "contains graphic language and images that are not appropriate for general use."
The book has been challenged for "gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint,
Some Iranian reception wasn't good, The book got accused of presenting “an unreal picture of the outcomes and achievements of the Islamic revolution.”
Loss of religion equated to her loss of innocence, as she would grow up quickly into a teenager, defying orthodox practice in Iran.
Born into a middle-class family in Rasht, Iran. Both parents were active participants in politics, supporting Marxist sympathisers against the autocratic Shah.
All my stories are always a little bit political. In the book that I am writing now, my paternal grandfather has a small moustache like Hitler.
There was also pressure on me to become involved, but politics is really not my thing.
Politicians are too often attracted by power, and the ones who are attracted by power are exactly the ones who should never be given power.
I did Persepolis not as a political act, but because I had enough of all the nonsense that was being said about my country, and I thought I would tell my story as a part of the truth about my country.
click to edit
“Ten or fifteen years ago if you said you didn’t believe in God, no one paid any attention. Now it’s a political statement somehow to be atheist or agnostic. When people ask me what is my religion, I say I don’t have any. And some people are shocked. They don’t understand. I say I don’t need it. I respect humanity. That’s my religion.”
Satrapi avoids unnecessary adverbs and adjectives and keeps her writing to the point. As she uses illustrations she doesn't need descriptions and only uses words when they are completely necessary.
Other notable work
Chicken with Plums (The book narrates the last eight days of the life of Nasser Ali Khan, a relative of Satrapi's)
The director of The Voices ( a comedic horror movie)
Embroideries