Final paper 12-3-08

Emily Knippel
December 3, 2008
Non-Western Literature
Persepolis in the Flesh
Non-Western literature is a lesser known, misunderstood genre of literature that many people ignore. I am one of the many persons who chose to avoid this unique type of literature simply because I was under the impression that non-western authors are attempting to publish their inner thoughts, fears, and emotions to an extreme that I could not begin to understand. However, after taking this course, I now realize that non-western literature in neither scary nor complicated, but rather beautiful in its own individual way.
Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel The Complete Persepolis is by far my favorite novel of the semester. Although it may seem less complex than some of the other, more intense novels such as Gabriel Garcỉa Màrquez One Hundred Years of Solitude or Uzodinma Iweala Beasts of No Nation, Satrapi’s novel expresses biographical information about her life that one could not help but be drawn to. This beautiful graphic novel is a compellation of different day to day events that take us through main character Majane’s (Marji) life as a young adolescent in Iran, her teenage years studying in Austria and eventually into her adult life. This diary-like format with vivid pictures and minimal words creates a life within each page, a rare quality in books, specifically in western literature. I truly appreciated Satrapi’s story and believe that this would be an excellent book for a high school English classroom.
Although it was very difficult to choose only ten pages of text, I have decided to focus on her adolescent years which were discussed earlier in the novel. Throughout the entire novel, specifically in the first few sections, I felt a very strong connection to Marji. I like Marji, always felt that I was an adult trapped in a child’s body. Marji constantly commented on how she could not wait to be an adult and make her own decisions; as if her parents were simply imprisoning her from something better. However, as Marji (and I) quickly found out, what seemed as an undeserved imprisonment was none other that an attempt to keep her safe from the dangers of the outside world.
In the section entitled The F-14s, Marji and her father were working in her father’s office when a group of fighter jets flew past the office windows. Marji, excited, believed that the jets were simply army fliers taking their planes out for a spin, however, Marji’s father quickly corrected her, explaining that they were Iraqi fighter jets passing by after bombing their country’s capital, Tehran. Marji became enraged as Satrapi illustrated her as standing in an aggressive, closefisted position. This is a very powerful and deep illustration that I found quite memorable.
After reading this particular section, Marji’s drastic change in emotion immediately reminded me of my experiences with 9-11. Although I was only thirteen and did not really understand what had and was going to come of that awful day, I, like Marji, was quite enraged and ready to fight back. In later pages of this section, Marji, still enraged, asks her father whether he will be fighting. When he abruptly answered: “What are you talking about? Of course I’m not going to fight. Why should I fight?”(Satrapi, 81), I was not surprised to read of Marji’s disgust over her father’s lack of patriotism as well as her utter lack of reality. She is constantly trying to be an advocate for the war, no matter who she offends. With that said, in the final pages of this section, Marji is given a big wakeup call when asked in school to write what the war means to her. After Marji presents her political and historical essay to the class, her friend, Paridisse is asked to come up and read her paper. After explaining that her father was killed in the war, Paridisse continues by reading a letter saying goodbye to her father. As Marji and her classmates break down into tears, she found a new understanding as to why her father was against fighting for his country. Although still enraged and supportive of the war, it seemed as though Marji took a step back when discussing the war. Death has a way of affecting everyone. In Marji’s case, death humbled her.
As I continued to read on, I could not help but to think back on all the lives that have been lost over getting a few essential items such as food. Sadly, what was once a fully stocked grocery store had empty shelves and seemed out of business. Marji’s mother explained how people are worried about the war and feel the need to stock up on as many nonperishable food items as possible. Later in this section, Marji and her mother actually witness two women fighting over a box of rice. Disgusted, Marji’s mother scolds both of them, explaining how if everybody took only what is needed, then everyone would have enough. I found this section to be rather inspirational and wise. I completely agreed with her and wished that I would have the guts to stand up for something like this. To my surprise however, as the section continues, Marji’s mother asks how many boxes of rice they bought, then she hypocritically suggests that Marji and her go to the store across the street and stock up on a few more boxes.
I must say that I laughed after reading this section. Although the Satrapi family seems to be a humble, aggressive, but civil family, they are really no different than any other family who supports or is against the war. The book definitely expresses the moral: every family for themselves. The Satrapi family is very willing to help anyone in need, but they always seem suspicious, and definitely express a sense of hypocriticalness.
One of the main reasons that I chose these two sections is because they illustrate reality. This entire book is very realistic and down to earth, expressing realistic views about the war and the truth about what a war can do to an entire country. In the middle of section two, a few women are chatting about how many women are prostituting themselves for money and food. This was the cold, hard truth. However, these gossiping woman were verbally insulting southern women (one of which who is shopping with the Satrapi’s). Of course feeling ashamed and humiliated, the Satrapi’s left the store quickly. This is just one of the many examples shown within this section that proves my point; when war occurs; people who were once friends are now enemies. It is sad but true, and Satrapi is not afraid to express these truths within these two sections.
Marjane Satrapi is a very powerful and opinionated woman. She is very well-educated, studying many aspects of all different subjects specifically fixating on history, religion, and literature. Due to her diverse background and interesting points of view, I immediately compared Satrapi to Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, specifically Spivak’s interesting topics within her book entitled Can the Subaltern Speak? in which she discusses and criticizes post-modern thought while tying in the topics of feminism, philosophical meaning, and government in general.
Like Satrapi, Spivak is also a very opinionated woman with very bold ideas about what should and should not be used within a government. Specifically discussing postmodern thought, Spivak blatantly states how governmental leaders are ignoring “the question of ideology and their implication in intellectual and economic history” (Spivak, 272).
Although Spivak is very deep and can be interpreted in many different ways, Spivak seems to be very unsupportive of government, pointing out that it is very Western, acting out through “radical political movements to romanticize the other, especially against the notion that third world peoples must lead the fight against multinational global capitalism” (Spivak, 2).
A perfect example of a radical political movement is the Iran-Iraq war. Satrapi does an excellent job of supporting Spivak’s views that the huge, overpowering government can only lead to a negative outcome. Through her book, Satrapi was able to get her message across to all who would read that what happened in Iran after the Revolution is a direct result of bad governmental choices. Many Iranian people, including Satrapi and her family, did lash out against the government through rallies, refusing to wear the veil, hosting / attending parties with alcohol, and housing criminals running from the law.
Another aspect of Spivak’s book which is also highly evident within Satrapi’s literary work is the subject of feminism. Satrapi discusses many different aspects of feminism within the society in which she lives including the veil which woman must wear at all times due to the male’s sexual attraction to female hairstyles and woman’s lack of rights in a society of powerful male figures. Within the two sections chosen however the main topic expressed is actually the lack of feminism. Both sections discuss and illustrate woman shopping for food, the humiliation of being publically ridiculed for prostitution, and the lack of individuality by wearing the veil in public. Interestingly enough however, Spivak introduces the topic of essentialism and how this topic seems to dismiss feminism as “stressed alliances among women across their differences” (Spivak, 2).
I found this to be utterly fascinating. It takes the topic of how women seem to find a sense of discomfort in uniformity, yet their natural differences make them uniform. Satrapi seems to also have found comfort in knowing that although she is very different than most girls her age, supporting a war that many people were fighting against, as a woman; she felt a strong sense of unity when protesting with her family. Spivak finishes her thought by discussing how “a person’s or group’s identity is relational, a function of its place in a system of differences” (Spivak, 3). This can also tie in the shopping scene. While Satrapi and her mother are shopping, they run into two women fighting over food. Although her mother stood up for what is right, in the end, she actually joins in acting against her initial views.
In literature, it is important to look at many different aspects of media when attempting to truly understand what an author is trying to portray. In the case of Satrapi however, she use of illustrations assists readers in visualizing what Satrapi is professing. With that said, even in the case of a graphic novel, a piece of art such as a sculpture, painting, or photograph can still enhance the ideas from within the literature.
Because I consistently visualized what loneliness of the Iranian people during this time specifically during the two sections chosen, I decided to use a painting entitled Two Sisters, painted by Picasso. It is a beautiful blue painting of two veiled women meeting together. As a viewer, I can actually feel the cold, loneliness of these two women; their facial expressions scream sadness and helplessness, much like Marji and her mother’s faces when walking in the supermarket and walking out nearly empty-handed.
Looking at the painting from a different aspect, one could also notice that within the painting, the two women seem to find comfort in one another as if they are there for moral support. Due to this observation, one could connect this beautiful painting to the beauty of the togetherness shown when Mali and her family walked into the Satrapi house, homeless, sad and in need of friends. The comforting look on the family’s face as Marji and her family welcomed them in with open arms is very heartwarming and memorable.
As previously discussed, although Satrapi’s novel does a beautiful job of discussing the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988, while reading this book, I constantly found myself comparing this book and the Iran-Iraq war to 9-11. Specifically within the first chosen section, The F-14s, I noticed many similarities including Marji’s original reaction to fight and the drastic change as the novel continued, the shock of Marji’s parents, much like most of our parents who actually understood what was currently happening, and Marji’s friend Pardisse, who lost her father in the war. Although most people may not know someone who died in the war personally, a little part of every American hurts when another soldier does not return home, much like the class as Pardisse read her beautiful letter to her father.
Because of this drastic change in our lives after 9-11, with the bombing of the Pentagon and the Twin Towers, as is with Iran after the bombing of their capital, Tehran, it seems appropriate to bring up the news stories published and reported in the days after 9-11 in comparison to the radio and television reports of 1980-88.
The New York Times did an excellent job of reporting the news as prompt and accurately as humanly possible within the immediate days after the plane crashes. On September 17, 2001, author Rick Bragg wrote and published a touching story in the New York Times entitled “A Nation Binds Its Wound in Red, White, and Blue”. Within this story, Bragg discusses how after that tragic day on September 11, what was assumed to be a ciaos, has turned into a nationwide community, all supporting our great country. It is no longer a subject of race, gender, or age, but rather that all who live in America are Americans and United We Stand. Sadly however, in the case of Satrapi, Iran did the exact opposite. Iranians took over grocery stores, attempted to flee their home town, and all turned against each other. As previously discussed, it was every family for themselves and their country suffered as a result.
The sad truth about war is that we are fighting against other countries and yet, in the scheme of things, we are inevitably fighting each other as well. As we have proven over the past year or two, citizens that once supported the war are now turning against our government; while our government feels the need to lie in an attempt to please, and yet as time has shown, is not succeeding, and our country is now in a state of panic. What the New York Times neglected to mention in the heartwarming story is that although most people came together for the first few weeks, and as the news slowed and the fighting began, so did the splitting of our country.
Marjane Satrapi was one of the few Iranian women of her time to get out of her suffering town, learn about the outside world, and as a result, make a name for herself. She was able to tell the story that her news anchors and columnists refused to report and she should be praised as a result. It seems as though our current publications in the West neglect to tell the real story as is in many western literary works. I can only hope that someone will take after Satrapi and write the real story of the tragedies that occurred seven years ago. Although Satrapi was ridiculed by some for her beautiful piece, if not now, everyone will appreciate it later.













Works Cited
Braggs, Rick. “A Nation Binds Its Wound in Red, White, and Blue.” New York Times
Sept. 2001: 1 Dec. 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/17/national/17FLAG.html?ex=1228453200&e
=86c5dc8d4c61ffc1&ei=5070
Picasso, Pablo. “Painting Abstract Art.” 1907. 1 Dec. 2008 http://pablo
picasso.paintings.name/blue-period/gallery/two-sisters-meeting.php
Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. Trans. Mattias Ripa and Blake Ferris. New York:
Pantheon, 2007. 80-93.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Can the Subaltern Speak?” Teachiwiki. 1942. 1 Dec. 2008
http://www.readysubjects.org/teachiwiki/index.php/Gayatri_Chakravorty_Spivak_%22
an_the_Subaltern_Speak%3F 272
Spivak, Gyatri Chakravorty. Unknown Title. 1942. Class handout. 2-3

The Complete Persepolis 11/13/08

Good morning,

Class today took Satrapi to the next level. Analyzing her drawings as well as where she was truly coming from while writing this graphic novel was very enlightening. I do believe that Satrapi would not have had the opportunity to write The Complete Persepolis had she not have had the funds to leave Tehran and fled to Austria, etc. The experiences that she encountered while away from home gave her the strength and intelligence to come back to her home town a stronger woman, ready to tackle to world at hand. Her autobiography is beautiful, giving us as readers a visual example of her life year by year.

I am very excited to watch the English version of Satrapi's masterpiece. Nominated for an Academy Award has obviously shown that the movie is worth viewing and Satrapi herself was successful in her cinematic portrayal of her life.

Because I have appreciated this graphic novel on a different level than some of the other novels we encountered over the semester, I feel that The Complete Persepolis will be the best option for my final term paper. Using her novel, film, news interviews, and speeches should turn out to be a well-rounded analysis of Satrapi and her work.

Final though on One Hundred Years of Solitude 11/6/08

Good afternoon,

Today's class was very outspoken and informative. Fellow students seem to have many conflicting views on what exactly is going on in each character's head as well as author Gabriel García Márquez thought process while writing the great novel.

Now having finished the novel, I understand why Márquez won a Nobel Prize and received such great reviews for his masterpiece, One Hundred Years of Solitude. His writing style and plot choices along with the twisted, unpredictable end was inspiring. With that said, the lack of individuality between most of the characters and the hidden timeline made this book quite challenging and easily misinterpreted (as our class discussion today supported). Honestly, the only character that I actually understood was Ursula. She was my character for the class blog and arguably the most dominant character in the entire novel. She is strong, confident, and will do anything to keep her family safe and together. Near the end of her life, I found myself feeling for her, as she was bed-ridden and blind. However, when she was finally able to stand up and be with her family one last time, her realization that she was a vegetable for a significant time, I felt my heart ache for her and root for her final steps. She died beautifully, unlike many of the characters who were either ill or killed by firing squad, and as a result prevailed in the end.

For next class, I am very excited to research Marjane Satrapi and her masterpiece Persepolis. Graphic novels are always entertaining and inspiring due to its illustrations and Satrapi is no exception. I can only hope that the film will do the novel and Satrapi justice.

One Hundred Years of Solitude and my continuous confusions 10/30

Good afternoon,

Tuesday's class was rather interesting. The intertextual connections between One Hundred Years of Solitude and the Book of Genesis- Creation story / Adam and Eve as well as tying in a maze-like Labyrinth was rather unexpected but a perfect connection. As in a maze, one may get lost or confused and must turn back and try a different route (much like the choose your own destiny books). In the case of One Hundred Years of Solitude, I too feel as though I am in a maze like place, constantly confused with the time spectrum and the endless amount of characters and as a result, am consistently referring back to the character list and previous chapters and notes in order to stay in tune with the literature. I am very interested to see what everyone else has to say about the book and its newest pages we needed for class today and next Tuesday.

In general, it seems as though everyone is in the same boat as I am, however, class discussions and the many intertextual connections seem to be helping and will continue to guide me through the One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Class discussion and my analysis of Úrsula 10/23/08

Good morning,

Today's class has made me a bit less confused about Gabriel García Márquez vision behind his beautiful piece of literature. With that said, he as a person is a complete mystery. After Listening to Emily discuss García Márquez as a person and his family background, I have come to realize that One Hundred Years of Solitude has many different autobiographical characters and situations from García Márquez's childhood and adulthood. I must say though that his connections with Fidel Castro not only shock me, but make me a bit uncomfortable. His book does not seem to contain any of the political problems that are currently happening, nor drug issues, nor random Titus-like killings. I am interested to see if more of García Márquez's past shows up within later chapters and / or character blog posts.

I am currently in charge of explaining Úrsula Iguarán, wife of main character José Arcadio Buendía. She is one the most interesting characters within the novel. She seems less stressed and anxious than most of the characters, specifically her husband. Although acting as the understanding, supportive wife in the beginning, as José Arcadio Buendía different excursions and experiments blow up in his face, Úrsula is the first person to say I told you so. She does show a lot of emotion which is withheld from many of the characters, however, I do believe in the long run, Úrsula is arguably the strongest characters in the novel, carrying a strong, confident head on her shoulders. She is the head of the household, in charge of everyone and everything that comes in and out of her house, and makes sure that everyone knows it. She is a very round character and is sure to bring more twists and turns to the novel as I continue to read.

Ending of God of Small Things 10/16/08

Today in class, I was very happy to have found out that every other classmate seemed just as confused after completing The God of Small Things as I did. The discussion of incest, the beauty behind Velutha and Ammu's physical relationship, and the sadness of finding out exactly how Sophie Mol's drowning occurs was an interesting, but different ending than I had anticipated. However, the entire book was a bit out of the ordinary and unpredictable; I would expect nothing less from Roy and the ending.

For this particular blog, I would like to discuss the subject of incest and Roy's interpretation / acceptance with the concept. As discussed in class, although we as a western, modern day society believe that incest is not wrong, but disgusting in most situations, Roy and the Eastern culture seems to view incest as more normal than most. An example of a more accepted form of incest is within a high profile, royal family such as England. For centuries, the royal family felt that only relatives were worthy of breeding and as a result only procreated with family members (it must stay in the family). In the case of Roy, I feel that she is almost making fun of the concept as taboo, and as a result, uses Estha and Rahel's relationship to prove what lengths close-minded people will go to in order to keep their world "perfect" and normal.

Moving on to the new assignment for this week, I have just began reading One Hundred Years of Solitude. As Paul pointed out in class, if a book such as this is a representation of sheer perfection, than it does have a better chance of not meeting expectations. So far, I appreciate the language. The characters are a bit overwhelming, but the new blog should help me to stay organized, but I am already confusing the time line. I am very interested to continue reading on through the assigned reading and see if if a time line presents itself.

Nonwestern Lit Blog Reflection Paper- 10/9/08

Within classes, reading is a crucial part of everyday learning. Students use reading to help better their understanding of certain topics, help support literary statements that may need secondary information, and / or simply as a tool for a well thought out intertextual connection. Because reading is so dominant in education, it is important for us as students to look at our reading development through class discussion and personal writing, and create a meta-analysis of how well we rate ourselves as readers and students. Reading development is categorized into three subcategories, Text-Self, Text-Other Texts, and Text-World, which help us as students learn where we stand in reading development and how to improve our developmental levels. Although I can be categorized as any three of these levels, I am most appropriately labeled as a stage two: Text-Other Texts.
Text-Self is a neutral, safe level that most students begin at, myself included. Before classes began as well as throughout my first few weeks of class, I was very nervous about speaking my mind or stating any opinions conflicting with others initial statements. As one can blatantly see, my first two blogs of the semester reflected this. They were very “I-centered” and subjective. I believe that early on in a semester, students can be apprehensive about speaking their minds and using outside sources for support, fearing that they may offend someone. In my case, I thought that I should write “safe”, short, broad blogs, fearing writing that may be offensive, confusing, or worse, stupid / incorrect information that could embarrass me during class. One example was expressed in my first week’s blog. It was one paragraph, stating information solely on the film, Bride and Prejudice, a cinematic feature viewed a few nights prior to class. I used language such as “I have come to the conclusion that although entertaining, Bollywood seems to create "over the top" cinema classics” or “As discussed in class, this film is hybrid. It combines western and non-western tactics to create a simple, yet fun movie” (Blog entry #1, 8/28/08). Both statements profess boring, obvious comments that any student, whether in or outside of class could have written. After comparing my first two blogs of the semester to later analyzes, I can definitely see a huge jump in language choice, intertextual connections, and personal comparisons to other peoples comments in and outside of class that help to make my blogs better.
Throughout the next few weeks, I was able to post more detailed, edgy blogs that could actually help within class discussion rather than hinder it. In my third blog of the semester, I took a tactic that actually used all three levels of reading development, presenting questions that I have. One example was “I am still confused / pondering whether the sheep is an actual object or simply a metaphor for the unknown” (Blog Entry #3, 9/12/08). Surprisingly, later that week, I found that other classmates did indeed have some of the same pondering questions. In addition to asking questions, my blog also touched upon the topic of symbolism within the book, Wild Sheep Chase. My group briefly discussed the three symbols the whale’s penis, a woman’s slip, and a woman’s ear, in class; however, I felt that there was more information about these symbols that were not discussed and should be given publication. Discussing specific concepts and emotions such as “…the ear is a fetish. It has no emotion to it, not necessary attachments like a human attraction and / or a relationship…” or “…the slip is a symbol of the feminine connection he seems to long for.” (Blog Entry #3).
To deepen the analysis, I completed the symbol investigation with a final comment that I feel is the ultimate example of my transition from stage one (Text-Self) to stage two (Text-Other Texts), stating,
“The whale penis is the most interesting of all three symbols. Severed from a whale and placed on display at the Aquarium, Boku admired that whale genitalia daily. Comparing him to the object, I feel that he has realized the uselessness of a severed penis as well as his feeling of uselessness in society. He discusses his ‘disheartening’ sex life and realizes that although he and the whale are quite different, their similarities do shine through” (Blog Entry #3).
At this point in my blog entries, I do not feel that I have fully transitioned into stage two; however, I do think that I am improving. I need to add more intertextual connections from other literary pieces. With that said, my ability to use in class information and relate it to outside information, is showing growth.
The specific definition of stage two: Text-Other Texts is to leave the personal opinions and reactions (“I-centered”), and be able to critically analyze the literary piece using outside sources and compare commonalities between the two or in this case, the comparison of a film and literary piece. Jumping ahead to last week’s blog: blog five, I discuss the film, Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom in connection to Said’s definition to Orientalism. I feel that this connection is a drastic improvement from the third week into the fifth week. I use specific intertextual connections from the film including the discussion of racism and genderism which could lead to offending viewers and the specific party discussed, different generalizations and fantasy within the creation of the village, temple, and night club that were influenced by western cinema, and multiple stereotypes among the characters, all of which were developed by writer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg, helping to deepen my comparison of Said’s article and this box office hit (Blog Entry #5).
In addition, I also took advantage of the article itself, using specific comments from within the article to support my opinions and statements about the movie as well as discussing the validity of the article in relation to other sources. To support this transition, my fifth blog concludes with a discussion of how unique and rare the concept of orientalism is. With that said, when really pondered, Orientalism is not as foreign as previously determined. This concept is used in many books and movies throughout the world. Specifically discussing film, I point out “The other Indiana Jones movies are perfect examples of that as well as comedic movies such as Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker's Rush Hour movies. They include multiple stereotypes and cliques that create modernized orientalistic cinema” (Blog Entry #5, 9/25/08). I know that there is still a lot more that I can do with stage two before improving to stage three; however, I do think that this is a start.
Stage three: Text-World is a very detailed, intuitive stage that must be taken seriously and will not be easy as easy of a transition as it was from stage one to stage two. This is because stage three requires a deeper thinking that needs to be taught and conditioned into ones brain.
There are many different strategies that I wish to enforce in order for me to transition from stage two to stage three. First of all, I will need to ease into stage three. Because stage three will require a mind set different than what I currently have, I will need to condition myself to think more psychologically, philosophically, or even scientifically. My first step in conditioning will be to look back at each of my previous blogs and contemplate how I can improve them from their current stages to the ultimate, third stage of reading development. Once I have improved my specific blogs, I will also research other classmates’ blogs and see where their reading development levels are. There are a few members within our class that seem to “get it” and I will most likely concentrate on their blog entries and compare. The final strategy that I will enforce in order to improve my reading development is to broaden my reading material. I feel that I have a specific category of literature that I tend to read. The broader my reading material, the more outside sources available as literary support, the better my blogs and class input will be.
Blogging has helped to broaden my horizons. I have never written a blog before, however, this weekly activity has proved to be successful. I am able to visually see my original developmental level at stage one as well as my continuous growth to stage two. I know that I have a lot of work to do in order to grow / develop into stage three, however, I do believe that the more blogs I write and the more research I do, the better I student I will be. This has been an interesting activity thus far and it looks as though within the future blogs, can only get better and more interesting.