Persepolis As A Postmodern Fiction
Maria Anwar
M. Phil Literature – 2nd
Presentataion on “Persepolis as a postmodern fiction”
What makes Persepolis a Postmodern Fiction?
A mix of High art and popular culture:
Marjane Satrapi's ''Persepolis'' is the latest and one of the most palatable examples of a postmodern genre, an autobiographical novel in form of a comic-book which tells the history of Iran from Marjane’s point of view. Persepolis is a postmodern graphic novel that blurs the boundaries between popular culture and high art by mixing political history and autobiography in a comic-book version. Marjane uses the medium of a graphic novel to share her own story. Throughout the story the reader watches Marjane’s highs (love, family, and friends) and lows (break ups, deaths, fears) and Satrapi continuously narrates how her past, her life through the Iranian Revolution shaped the person she has become. Persepolis can be categorized as a memoir as it focuses on a series of related events, includes a sense of higher emotional levels, and have descriptions of events that show they are significant.
Use of Pastiche:
The pleasingly simple, hand-drawn characters and flat abstractly patterned backgrounds show the influence of German Expressionism, Persian miniature painting and shadow puppetry in the form of a Pastiche. It’s an experimentation with the traditional form of novel and literary forms. We see irony, humour and play when Marjane criticizes social practices, religious fundamentalism and Capitalistic ideology prevalent in Iran through this graphic novel. History is usually a serious subject but in Persepolis it has been dealt with in a comic way.
Metafiction:
Persepolis is a Metafiction as it involves self-reflexivity, rejects conventional plot and violates narrative levels.
Metafiction attempts to blur the line between fiction and reality. In Persepolis Marjane often breaks out of the narrative to address the reader, or comments on the story or events of the novel. The captions in the panel
M. Phil Literature – 2nd
Presentataion on “Persepolis as a postmodern fiction”
What makes Persepolis a Postmodern Fiction?
A mix of High art and popular culture:
Marjane Satrapi's ''Persepolis'' is the latest and one of the most palatable examples of a postmodern genre, an autobiographical novel in form of a comic-book which tells the history of Iran from Marjane’s point of view. Persepolis is a postmodern graphic novel that blurs the boundaries between popular culture and high art by mixing political history and autobiography in a comic-book version. Marjane uses the medium of a graphic novel to share her own story. Throughout the story the reader watches Marjane’s highs (love, family, and friends) and lows (break ups, deaths, fears) and Satrapi continuously narrates how her past, her life through the Iranian Revolution shaped the person she has become. Persepolis can be categorized as a memoir as it focuses on a series of related events, includes a sense of higher emotional levels, and have descriptions of events that show they are significant.
Use of Pastiche:
The pleasingly simple, hand-drawn characters and flat abstractly patterned backgrounds show the influence of German Expressionism, Persian miniature painting and shadow puppetry in the form of a Pastiche. It’s an experimentation with the traditional form of novel and literary forms. We see irony, humour and play when Marjane criticizes social practices, religious fundamentalism and Capitalistic ideology prevalent in Iran through this graphic novel. History is usually a serious subject but in Persepolis it has been dealt with in a comic way.
Metafiction:
Persepolis is a Metafiction as it involves self-reflexivity, rejects conventional plot and violates narrative levels.
Metafiction attempts to blur the line between fiction and reality. In Persepolis Marjane often breaks out of the narrative to address the reader, or comments on the story or events of the novel. The captions in the panel