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GLOBAL DISSENT AND ACTS OF REBELLION THROUGH MARJANE SATRAPI'S GRAPHIC NOVEL: PERSEPOLIS
Authors: Rosy Anna Martin
Number of views: 87
Marjane Satrapi's The Complete Persepolis is a coming-of-age graphic memoir that tells of the
author's experiences growing up during and after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. Initially
published in two volumes in America (and in four books in France), the first half of Persepolis is a
memoir of Marjane's girlhood, growing up under the new Islamic regime and the Iran-Iraq war. In
contrast, the second half presents her experiences in exile in Vienna at fourteen years old, her eventual
return to Iran at nineteen, and her decision to leave Iran again at twenty-four. Persepolis is not just a
graphic novel but also an autobiographical comic strip description of the youth of the revolutionary
and war-torn Iranian writer Marjane Satrapi.
Satrapi's drawing style is simple, the characters are essential, and the scene rarely contains
details. Many drawings resemble woodblock prints, and Satrapi effectively uses black and white.
Clothing, backgrounds, and various information can be black or white, creating an effective and strong
contrast.