Saturday, March 21, 2015

Historical Context Week 5 - Bernardita


- How did historical events influence the ideas in the novel?  What cultural issues may have influenced, challenged, or inspired the author?

Marjane Satrapi - Persepolis 


The autobiographical comic by Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis is a novel that highlights her early life, growing up during the Islamic Revolution. During this time period, Iran’s country was withstanding major political changes that would change the social and political nation forever. Marjane Satrapi’s childhood experiences were and are awfully linked to that political and social revolutions taking place in Iran. Persepolis starts with a short introduction about the history of Iran. It clarifies and defines the history of Iran by starting off with the first occupation of the Indo-European nomads, to the creation of the Persian Empire, to the Islamic revolution in 1979. The title, Persepolis itself refers to the ancient capital of the Persian Empire, the story analysis Satrapi’s childhood, which is why the title is appropriate and fitting. The text was and is set throughout the years 1976 and 1994, detailing eighteen years of the author’s life and analysing Iranians history. Throughout the years approximately 1979 Iranian revolution, which the author, Marjane Satrapi states, "was normal, and it had to happen. Unfortunately, it happened in a country where people were very traditional, and other countries only saw the religious fanatics who made their response public."  The author, Marjane Satrapi explains that the meaning behind her novel isn’t about calling her country, Iran as a fundamentalist and terrorists.  

1 comment:

  1. Bernie,

    I very much liked your post, and didn't know you could write this beautifully. Firstly, your writing informed me about many things I didn't know such as the meaning of the title Persepolis or the quote that Marjane Satrapi stated. I noticed that your blog post contained many background knowledge about how the Islamic Revolution compared to her experiences in Iran. Consequently, this made me question whether she would have lived with a different perspective of life if she were to live in an American state. Specifically, an American state would be ideal because the US is the most powerful country in the world. To conclude with, she would have lived a much different life, showing how a country can affect society immensely.

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