Introduction

Satrapi: Persepolis

In this course, Dr Dominic Davies (University of Oxford) explores Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel, Persepolis. We begin by thinking about what Persepolis is and what it's about, focusing in particular on the historical events that form the background of the graphic novel, as well as the meaning of term 'graphic novel' itself. After that, we introduce some of the vocabulary used when discussing graphic novels – e.g. panels, frames, gutters – and begin to think about how the form of the graphic novel might interact with its content. In the third module, we think about ideas of framing and perspective, before moving on in the fourth module to consider how Satrapi represents the tension between the adult and adolescent perspectives of her early life in the tension between the verbal and graphical narratives that Persepolis presents. In the fifth, we think about the presentation of Iran and the Middle East in Persepolis, before turning in sixth and final module to Satrapi's presentation of the West in the graphic novel, and some of the broader problems of cross-cultural communication.

Introduction

In this module, we think about what Persepolis is and what it's about, focusing in particular on the historical events that form the background the novel, the meaning of the term graphic novel (or graphic narrative, comic, etc.), and the importance of Persepolis in the history of graphic novels.