Marjane Satrapi and the Graphic Novels from and about the Middle East

Chris Reyns-Chikuma, null; Houssem Ben Lazreg, null

doi:10.13169/arabstudquar.39.1.0758

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Arab Studies Quarterly

Volume 39, Issue 1

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Marjane Satrapi and the Graphic Novels from and about the Middle East

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Author(s): Chris Reyns-Chikuma , Houssem Ben Lazreg

Publication date (Print): Winter 2017

Journal: Arab Studies Quarterly

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: Satrapi, Persepolis , graphic novels, Middle East, representation

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Abstract

Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi's prominent graphic autobiography, depicts her coming-of-age in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution. It offers an intriguing perspective that challenges preconceived ideas and stereotypes about Iran and the region overall. In light of the story's success as a graphic novel and a film on the international arena, this genre has become very popular among several Middle Eastern writers and artists such as Zeina Abirached, Lena Irmgard Merhej, Magdy El Shafee, Leila Abdelrazaq, and Riad Sattouf, who used it to shed light on personal, sociopolitical and cultural issues in the Arab/Muslim world. In this article, we examine the literary, aesthetic, and thematic influences of Satrapi on other North African and Middle Eastern graphic novelists. The corpus we selected encompasses five main countries (Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Turkey) as well as the Maghreb (e.g., Tunisia, Algeria, Libya) due to the strong linguistic and religious ties with the Middle East. We conclude by commenting on a highly controversial graphic novel entitled L'Arabe du Futur, which, like Persepolis, provides a problematic political and ideological representation of the region.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): arabstudquar

Title: Arab Studies Quarterly

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 02713519

ISSN (Electronic): 20436920

Publication date (Print): Winter 2017

Volume: 39

Issue: 1

Pages: 758-775

Article

Publisher ID: arabstudquar.39.1.0758

DOI: 10.13169/arabstudquar.39.1.0758

SO-VID: 9fd63062-4a0c-457c-823b-6aaa03228af8

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

References

Abdelrazak, Leila (2015). Baddawi. New York: Just World Books.
Abirached, Zeina (2007). Le Jeu des hirondelles. Mourir, Partir, Revenir. Paris: Cambourakis.
Baetens, J. and H. Frey (2015). Graphic Novel: An Introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bashi, Parsua (2009). Nylon Road: A Graphic Memoir of Coming of Age in Iran. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.
Bentahar, Ziad (2012). Tintin in the Arab World and Arabic in the World of Tintin. Alternative Francophone , 1(5), 41–53.
Borg, Eric and Alex Talamba (2012). Sidi Bouzid Kids. Tournai: Casterman.
Boysal, Bahadır (2010). Busra. Ankara: Cadde Yayinlari.
Calargé, C. (2014). La guerre du Liban è /et l'écran des souvenirs dans: Le Jeu des hirondelles et Je me souviens. Beyrouth de Zeina AbiRached. French Cultural Studies , 25(2), 202–220.
Camus, Albert (1946). L'étranger. New York: Pantheon Books.
Cornog, M. (2015). Book Review: The Arab of the Future . Library Journal , 140(15), 60–62.
Cornog, M. and T. Perper (2009). Graphic Novels beyond the Basics: Insights and Issues for Libraries. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Di Ricco, Massimo (2015). Drawing for a New Public: Middle Eastern 9th Art and the Emergence of a Transnational Graphic Movement. In Postcolonial Comics. Texts, Events, Identities , eds., B. Mehta and P. Mukherji, 187–203. New York: Routledge.
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El Shaffee, Magdy (2008). Metro: A Story of Cairo. Cairo, Egypt: Dar el Malameh.
Emmel, Aaron and Aaron Kreader (2011). Zanjan: A Graphic Novel Based on Actual Events. Wilmette, IL: Baha'I Publishing.
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Reyns-Chikuma, C. and D. Lorenz (forthcoming). Kamala Khan, a Superhero in Burkini. In Muslim Superheroes: Comics, Islam and Representations , eds. M. Lund and D. Lewis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Samanci, Ozge (2015). Dare to Disappoint: Growing up in Turkey. New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.
Sattouf, Riad (2014). L'Arabe du futur: une jeunesse au Moyen Orient, 1978–1984. Paris: Allary.
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Abdelrazak, Leila (2015). Baddawi. New York: Just World Books.

[2] Abirached, Zeina (2007). Le Jeu des hirondelles. Mourir, Partir, Revenir. Paris: Cambourakis.

[3] Baetens, J. and H. Frey (2015). Graphic Novel: An Introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press.

[4] Bashi, Parsua (2009). Nylon Road: A Graphic Memoir of Coming of Age in Iran. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.

[5] Bentahar, Ziad (2012). Tintin in the Arab World and Arabic in the World of Tintin. Alternative Francophone , 1(5), 41–53.

[6] Borg, Eric and Alex Talamba (2012). Sidi Bouzid Kids. Tournai: Casterman.

[7] Boysal, Bahadır (2010). Busra. Ankara: Cadde Yayinlari.

[8] Calargé, C. (2014). La guerre du Liban è /et l'écran des souvenirs dans: Le Jeu des hirondelles et Je me souviens. Beyrouth de Zeina AbiRached. French Cultural Studies , 25(2), 202–220.

[9] Camus, Albert (1946). L'étranger. New York: Pantheon Books.

[10] Cornog, M. (2015). Book Review: The Arab of the Future . Library Journal , 140(15), 60–62.

[11] Cornog, M. and T. Perper (2009). Graphic Novels beyond the Basics: Insights and Issues for Libraries. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

[12] Di Ricco, Massimo (2015). Drawing for a New Public: Middle Eastern 9th Art and the Emergence of a Transnational Graphic Movement. In Postcolonial Comics. Texts, Events, Identities , eds., B. Mehta and P. Mukherji, 187–203. New York: Routledge.

[13] El Hamamsy, W. E. and M. Soliman, eds. (2013). Popular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa: A Postcolonial Outlook. New York, NY: Routledge.

[14] El Maizi, M. (2014). Bande dessinée, autobiographie et guerre au Liban. Nottingham French Studies , 53(3), 249–266.

[15] El Shaffee, Magdy (2008). Metro: A Story of Cairo. Cairo, Egypt: Dar el Malameh.

[16] Emmel, Aaron and Aaron Kreader (2011). Zanjan: A Graphic Novel Based on Actual Events. Wilmette, IL: Baha'I Publishing.

[17] Gökhan Gürses, Kemal (2006). Ayşegül Savaşta Irak Şahini Savaşta. Ankara: Cadde Yayinlari.

[18] Grassian, D. (2013). Iranian and Diasporic Literature in the 21st Century: A Critical Study. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.

[19] Gueydan-Turek, A. (2013). The Rise of Dz-Manga in Algeria: Glocalization and the Emergence of a New Transnational Voice. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics , 4(1), 161–178.

[20] Hussein, Khalid (2012). The Tunisian Awakening. San Bernardino, CA: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

[21] Kerbaj, Mazen (2007). Beyrouth: Juillet-août 2006. Paris: L'Association.

[22] Kerbaj, Mazen (2013). Lettre è la mère. Paris: Apocalypse.

[23] Kocak, Kenan (2015). The Representation of Middle East Identities in Comics Journalism (Unpublished thesis, University of Glasgow).

[24] Lohmann, L. (2012). Die Graphic Novel als Medium des Wiederstandes: Satrapis “Persepolis” im Vergleich zu “Zahra's Paradise” von Amir u. Khalil. Berlin: GRIN Verlag.

[25] Louerad, Nawel (2012). Les Věpres algériennes. Alger: Dalimen.

[26] Marni, S. (2013). Where Do You Draw the (Front) Line: Women's War Comics from the Middle East. International Journal of Comic Art , 5(2), 77–93.

[27] Matthews, Henry (2008). “Talking to.” NOW. 27 March. Web. Accessed January 16, 2016. <www.nowlebanon.com/newsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=36019>.

[28] Mazur, D. and Danner, A. (2014). Comics: A Global History 1968 to the Present. London: Thames & Hudson.

[29] McKinney, M. (2011). The Colonial Heritage of French Comics. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.

[30] Mehta, B. and P. Mukherji, eds. (2015). Postcolonial Comics: Texts, Events, Identities. New York: Routledge.

[31] Merhej, Lena (2015). Laban et confiture ou comment ma mère est devenur libanaise. Paris: Alifbata.

[32] Naraghi, Dara and Brent Bowman (2013). Persia Blues. New York: NBM Publishing.

[33] Olukotun, D. B. (2014). A Persian Cartoonist Illustrated His Fall from Grace in His New Graphic Novel. Vice. 12 December. Web. Accessed February 1, 2017. <https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/persian-cartoonist-narrates-his-fall-from-grace-in-his-new-graphic-novel-116>.

[34] Ozgur, I. (2013). Busra: The Veiled Protagonist of a Comic Serial. In Popular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa , eds. W. E. Hamamsy and M. Soliman, 130–143. New York: Routledge.

[35] Paul, P. (2012). “Life under Siege: 'A Game for Swallows' by Zeina Abirached. Children's Books” The New York Times. 14 November. Web. Accessed February 1, 2017. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/books/a-game-for-swallows-by-zeina-abirached.html>.

[36] Reyns-Chikuma, C. and D. Lorenz (forthcoming). Kamala Khan, a Superhero in Burkini. In Muslim Superheroes: Comics, Islam and Representations , eds. M. Lund and D. Lewis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

[37] Samanci, Ozge (2015). Dare to Disappoint: Growing up in Turkey. New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.

[38] Sattouf, Riad (2014). L'Arabe du futur: une jeunesse au Moyen Orient, 1978–1984. Paris: Allary.

[39] Sattouf, Riad (2015). L'Arabe du futur: 1984–1985. Paris: Allary.

[40] Ziadé, Lamia (2010). Bye Bye Babylon: Beyrouth, 1975–1979. Paris: Denoël.

[41] Ziadé, Lamia (2015). Ô nuit Ô mes yeux: Le Caire / Beyrouth / Damas / Jerusalem. Paris: P.O.L.

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