- Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
- Vol: 11 Issue: 2
- Graphic Representation of Oppression and Rebellion in Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood through t...
Graphic Representation of Oppression and Rebellion in Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood through the Eyes of a Child
Authors : Neeraj Sankhyan, Suman Sigroha
Pages : 253-266
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Publication Date : 2014-12-01
Article Type : Research
Abstract :This paper aims to explore the ways in which oppression and rebellion are represented in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. Satrapi, in this graphic novel, gives a poignant autobiographical account of her growing up in a troubled country through an Islamic revolution, cruelties of a totalitarian regime and a devastating war with Iraq. What makes this work unique is the telling of a horrendous tale of trauma, oppression and rebellion through the eyes of a child using the medium of graphic narrative. Marji’s presence in the novel as a child narrator and witness is characterized by her absence in the sense of her inability to comprehend the complexity of the environment and circumstances that she is a part of. Yet she struggles hard to interpret the events using her childhood consciousness and eventually imbibes the dark realities of a cruel world that play a significant role in shaping her being. The paper discusses the aptness of graphic medium in representing the trauma that the victims of oppression and violence experience. Besides, the paper comments on the effectiveness of autobiography in narrating a tale of historical significance.Keywords : oppression, Iranian revolution, autobiography, graphic novel, memory