Persepolis: Changing Western Perceptions of Muslim Women Essay

Marjane Satrapis graphic novel, Persepolis, makes important strides toward altering how westward audiences perceive Persian women. Satrapi endeavors to display the intersection of the lives of some Hesperianers with her life as an Iranian, who spent some time in the West. Satrapi, dissatisfied with representations she saw of Iranian women in France, decided to challenge them. In her words, From the time I came to France in 1994, I was always telling stories about life in Iran to my friends. Wed see pieces about Iran on television, but they didnt represent my mystify at all. I had to keep saying, No, its not like that there. Ive been justifying why it isnt negative to be an Iranian for almost 20 years. How strange when it isnt something I did or chose to be? (Satrapi, Why I Wrote Persepolis 10). In acknowledging both Eastern and Western feminism, Satrapis novel humanizes the distaff Iranian perspective in a way that can easily digested by Western audiences. This novel acts as a n autoethnographic text, a term coined by Mary Louise Pratt, in which Persepolis acts as a text in which hoi polloi undertake to describe themselves in ways that engage with representations others have do of them (Pratt 35). This novel, which depicts her life so far, demonstrates a mastery of the spaces of representation. As one theorist has argued, In discussing Persepolis in relation to the theme of women and space, we will draw upon a framework suggested by Pollock for reading the work of women artistsPollock refers to triplet spatial registers first, the locations represented by the work (and, in particular, the division amidst public and private space) second, the spatial order within the work itself (concerning, for example, angl... ... and changed Western perceptions in doing so. Works CitedGkarksel, Banu and Anna Secor. The Veil, Desire, and the Gaze Turning the Inside Out. Signs, 40, 1 (Autumn 2014) 177-200. Miller, Ann. Marjane Satrapis Persepolis Eluding the Frames. Johns Hopkins University Press LEspirit Createur, Vol. 51, No. 1, Spring 2011 38-52. Nnaemeka, Obioma. Negowomens liberation movement Theorizing, Practicing, and Pruning Africas Way. Signs, Vol. 29, No. 2, Winter 2004, 357-385. Online. Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Perspolis. New York Pantheon Books, 2004. marker Satrapi, Marjane. Why I wrote Persepolis a graphical novel memoir writer Marjane Satrapi faced the challenges of life in post-revolutionary Iran. She used the graphic novel set to tell her unique story. Marjane Satrapi. Writing, Nov-Dec, 2003, Vol.. 26(3), p. 9(5) Cengage Learning Inc.