Persepolis

Persepolis is a postmodern work because of the style in which Marjane Satrapi presents her memoir, in the form of a graphic novel. Rather that retell factual stories with certainty, she is able to convey her childhood by giving her own experiences that encapture what her emotions and recollection of what the events meant, through images and dialogue. Satrapi makes a cohesive and moving memoir through her alternate style of the novel. The style of it makes the retelling of the story much more abstract, rather than a straightforward recollection of her life. Instead she masterfully turns the details of her life into a visual story filled with conversation and encounters. The work is made in such a way that is not often explored in literature,
and can reveal new layers that would not have been discovered, had it been written in the standard format.
Persepolis has all the potential to be a typical memoir, it has conflict both internally and externally. However, the author Marjane Satrapi, chose to make the memoir in the form of. Graphic novel, a highly irregular way for an author to retell a memoir. However, Satrapi is able to maintain all the emotional depth that should be present in an excellent memoir, and puts it in a new way, that forces readers to look at her story in a different way. The format of a graphic novel makes it so that Satrapi can cause an emotional response from the reader. Instead of the focus of her story being on the external conflict, Satrapi is able to focus on the inner conflict and how, consequently the conflict impacts her as a young girl. Satrapi is able to take a conflict and make her readers view int in a completely new perspective. The Iranian Revolution was an event that is well known, but to be exposed to this kind of memoir is different- in that it is a graphic novel, it can be expected that it will have a new impact on the reader. There is a unique style that Satrapi takes on in the novel as well, one that encourages the use of a specific cartoon style, and a laser focus on dialogue
In Persepolis, there are no exceptionally detailed images. The cartoon style that Satrapi uses makes many character's outside of the main few, seem indistinguishable from each other at first glance. If the reader chooses to look closer however they may notice the small differences in each person’s appearance, This is another example of postmodernist ideas, because it leaves the art up to the interpretation of the reader, even the thought that it is art can be up to a person’s opinion. Whether or not the reader wishes to look at her panels in detail may alter their own interpretation of the story, which is absolutely what she has in mind. Marjane did not make her biography with any intention of creating one theme and meaning that everyone could take from her story. Her drawings leave lots of room for interpretation with the lack of color and blank spaces. Qualities of postmodern art are that they do not have any one meaning and definition that relates to the idea the artist had in mind when they created it. Instead, the meaning is determined by the viewer. With each new viewer new ideas can come about that may be based on another’s interpretation or could be interpreted with their own blank slate. The art in Persepolis leaves room for the reader to figure out the meaning to them, rather than implanting ideas in his or her head. For example, Satrapi uses negative and positive spaces in her panels that create contrast and a minimalistic style. Her panels have backgrounds that are just white or perhaps just black. For example she uses and entire page in the novel to depict a young Marjane, floating through dark space( Satrapi 71).The lack of background or activity allows her to guide the reader's attention to gravitate towards one subject or perhaps no subject at all, in which case can provoke even more emotion.
The fragmentation of her novel is also a characteristic of postmodernism. Her novels story is not a linear story. Persepolis is a bildungsroman novel. Marjane Satrapi recalls her childhood how growing up in Iran in such a pivotal time shaped who she became. However, the reader does not get to see the whole story. Satrapi included parts of the story, some may seem very important, while others mundane and not very memorable. It is a grand mixture of time and stories of her life that she pieces together. There are holes in the story, gaps in time, moments left unexplained. The fragmented style of the novel of the story proves it is postmodern because it does not follow any structure. In a modernist time period a novel would presumably have a clearly distinguishable beginning, middle, and end. The middle would include the climax, the end the falling action and resolution. However, Persepolis does not include these characteristics, at least not overtly. One of the most interesting distinctions in the novel is that it does not include a resolution. Throughout the story we see Marjane love and hate her country, fight for it, and fight against it. However, despite the creation of two opposing sides, the ending is ambiguous, no ‘side’ is chosen. Marjane is sent away from her family and goes to Austria (Satrapi, 152). Despite the fact that this is a bildungsroman the reader does not get to see Marjane grow up, when she leaves she is still just a child. This unsatisfactory ending is more realistic and postmodernist, because in life there are not always resolutions, and there are not always answers. The ending leaves the reader to take whatever meaning they want, because not even Marjane understands her relationship with Iran at the time.
Satrapi does not have one message she intended on conveying to the reader.
Perhaps this adds to the reason why she chose to use postmodernist styles in her novel, because she knew that if she made a radical and very clearly political message she would never be able to tell her story to those from western cultures that are often resentful of the Middle East. Like any creator of art, it is presumed that Marjane Satrapi had an idea in mind when she wrote this book, and wanted readers to take something away from her novel, to feel something,but she does is impartial to how. Overall Persepolis is an example of postmodernist works because of the characteristics the novel shares with those that correspond to postmodernist ideas, like fragmentation, art, and unique narration. This contributes to the novel because it lets the reader interpret the story, even though it is written like a biography, which is unique. Instead of just stories threaded together of a somewhat-interesting childhood, the reader is emerged in the life of Marjane and is left with emotion. Marjane Satrapi did an exceptional job conveying strong emotions, but no message in particular, just something there that resonates with the reader. She is able, through the postmodern style, to illuminate whole new aspects to a well-known historical event. The postmodernist style, exemplified through the format, the art and the dialogue, is responsible for making Persepolis an exceptional memoir, rather than an average
one.