The reader’s perception of transnational elements in Persepolis results from its configuration as a graphic novel. Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian-French author, writing a graphic novel in France to relate her childhood in Iran is in itself a product of transnationalism. Persepolis is divided in sections (The Veil, The Bicycle, The Water Cell, etc.), which display a layout that consists of a series of scenes separated by white spaces, contiguous, but still separated. The apparent fragmented structure is unified by Marjane’s objective to show that Iran is more than fanaticism, fundamentalism, and terrorism. In the introduction of Persepolis Marjane explicitly presents this as her motivation to write the novel. In this sense, the components of the graphic novel interact to form a single unity. It is a process analogous to that of transnationalism, which is determined by the interaction of components of culture originated by a diverse range of factors and motivations. After reading Satrapi’s graphic novel, we are able to interpret and assign a meaning to it. Likewise, the flow of culture that results from transnationalism is interpreted and adopted by its recipients.
For me, the genre has had a transnational impact, since it fostered the willingness to try and accept cultural products from other countries. When I was in middle school manga from Japan was very popular among the male student body. This was in Mexico in the late ‘90s. Some of the most popular were manga that we consumed in the form of anime, which aired on television. Nonetheless, everyone was trying to get the latest volumes of the manga to find out what would happen next and be ahead of the anime that showed in TV. There was a complete network of economic transactions (trading, buying, selling) related to these comics carried out by students. The manga were obtained in flea markets and other irregular shops in a bigger city about 20 miles from ours and then were distributed at school. Sometimes the translation from the Japanese was terrible and we had to figure out the plot of the manga by looking at the pictures. In addition, the effort, performed by some translators, to westernize the reading direction created more problems than it solved. Nonetheless, we enjoyed them and learned from them too. I learned most of Greek mythology from reading Saint Seiya. Coincidentally, Marjane learns about philosophy from a comic book.
As I stated above, my interest in manga led to an openness to accept cultural manifestations from other parts of the world. During my third year of middle school (middle school is three years in Mexico) my interests began to shift towards music. We were still engaged with manga at school, but now music was our main focus. It followed the same pattern of distribution as manga. This flow of culture through music is similar as Marjane’s experience portrayed in Persepolis. Radio stations, or at least the radio stations my friends and I listened, played mainly rock from the United States and Britain (Regional or norteño music was not as popular among teens as it is now. It became more popular in most age-groups after immigrants returning to Mexico brought along this genre of music, which was popular in some regions of the country, but was even more popular in Mexican communities in the United States). In our quest to find music from other parts of the world, we began to listen to nordic metal. We were listening to bands such as Nightwish (they are coming to Silver Spring in May, by the way) or Tristania. Sigur Rós was not metal, but was perceived as the new Radiohead (I’m not sure how we reached such comparison) and people were eager to get their hands on their music. In contrast to Marjane, I could get the music without major problems and/or consequences. Although, now that I think about it, we did depend on products from abroad to listen to music in the form of electronics bought in the United States. It was common to have products from the United States at home. My family has lived in both countries for several generations so we were always surrounded by products manufactured here.
The process that I have described is analogous to Marjane’s experience. She was surrounded by fragments of culture from abroad.
The Graphic Novel begins in the United States in 1978 with the publication of “Contract with God”, a cycle of short stories of an immigrant Jew in New York. In this cycle the authors reflects the loss of faith, suicide and the racial prejudices in which his characters are immersed. It is not casual the author opted for graphic sequences to structure his narrative. In 1939 the graphic cycle of stories began with the transnational hero Superman and to whom other heroes such as Batman who lives in Gotham City will join to combat the super evil, an evil that transcends the boundaries of common criminality. It is obvious the irony that lies behind “Contract with God”. The heroes, especially Superman, who travels to other planets, has an anti-hero who, also, with a transnational consciousness is confined to the limited and prejudicial consciousness of New York and his own impotence to improve his own situation.
In 1989 in Europe, one novel becomes an unbelievable bestseller. “Regards from the Dead Princess” is the story of a Turkish princess that does not fit in her society and endures from the Muslim and Western Worlds an accumulation of suffering that conduces to her death. It’s a biographic novel written by her daughter Kenize Mourad. In 2004 another bestseller, “Sultana”, also portrays the live of a real Muslim woman, this time a princess of Saudi Arabia, who is willing to reveal to the western world the corruption and the lust which guides the lives and acts of male Saudis.
“Persepolis” is the story of a child who suffers the changes and transitions of a liberal Persia to a very conservative one. Very soon in the novel she not only begins questioning the drastic transformation of values but also her role as a woman in such a society. However her departure to Vienna doesn’t put her in a much better situation, since she is misunderstood and at the same time she does not fully understand western values, therefore she gets involved in promiscuity and drugs. The main character of “Persepolis” goes through the misunderstanding of communication just like the Jew in “Contract with God”. She is the anti-hero (one like Don Quixote) since fighting super forces that threaten her survival is impossible. She also is an anti-hero like the real characters whose lives are portrayed in and “Regards from the Dead Princess” and “Sultana”because by revealing her story to the West, she betrays her nation and culture. For us, however, she is a hero, just like many Muslim women who have extended their hand to the Western world.
It is ironic that a woman born in 1969, in the golden age of the comic heroes, when the United States did not see limits to its imperial power, adopts that powerful medium consumed by masses in a transnational level called the comics. Her novel may be transnational but the effects of her novel on those who live in the West are “more” transnational since we can see how the international heroes of 34 years ago, whose ethics responded to Western rationality, have experienced such an extraordinary transformation.
Jose, I thought your comparison of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis with the use of Manga comic books in your hometown was very insightful. We have discussed a lot in class the idea of transcultural literature as well as popular culture but this concept opens up a whole new dimension of that: the transcultural experience of adolescents. Persepolis gives us insight into the experiences of a preteen Iranian girl and yet her experiences are universal enough for us to relate to–as you did with the manga comparison. As developing entities, adolescents may experience a higher dimension of transculturalism than their adult counterparts simply by being more open to outside cultures (as we see with Marji’s obsession with Western pop culture–her punk posters, Iron Maiden cassettes, and Michael Jackson pin).