I’d like to start us off with Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This award-winning Graphic Novel is an autobiography covering Satrapi’s childhood and early adult years in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution. Engaging and gripping, the novel starts with young Marjane’s first interactions with the veil and her love for Kim Wilde, moving on to her early teenage years in Vienna and her first boyfriend as well as her return to her Iran and her eventual, final departure. By examining the Islamic Revolution through the eyes of a child, her account brings a fresh take to our understanding of these turbulent years and challenges pervasive Western stereotypes about the Middle-East as a region. It’s a fantastic, fearless exploration of her own life (with all its doubts and fears) and presents a rich and compelling narrative.
Persepolis’ artwork is relatively minimalist, with bold black and white pen strokes; sometimes simple but never simplistic. Satrapi demonstrates complete mastery over the Graphic Novel form and strikes the perfect balance between narrating events and allowing the art to speak for itself. Several of the Graphic Novel’s panels are completely devoid of text, but have the strongest impact. Persepolis is a powerful, poignant page-turner and a volume that I hope you too will read over and over again.
Currently, Persepolis is taught in many universities across a host of different disciplines and has been turned into an animated film. The David Wilson Library has several copies of both the graphic novel and the animated film available for loan.
