Persepolis is an autobiographical graphic novel written by Marjane Satrapi. The book was originally published in French and has sold millions of copies and has been translated into several languages. The story follows Satrapi’s childhood and upbringing in Iran during the
Hunger is a memoir written by Roxane Gay. It was published on June 13th, 2017 Islamic Revolution. The title references the ancient capital of the Persian empire. Theis a personal account of Roxane Gay’s life, largely book was on the American Library Association’s and it is 320 pages long. Hunger list of Top Ten Most Challenged Books in 2014. consumed by her weight. She addresses her experience of living in a body without Satrapi was inspired to use the graphic novel as her medium to tell the
control of her size, and lacking the discipline that society encourages women to have story
in
order
to
use
her
talents
with
images
and
words.
over their bodies. She goes through encounters with her body from a childhood
shaken by sexual assault, her 20s, which she calls her “lost years”, and becoming an established writer. We follow her as the trauma she was subjected to at 12 years old, follows her relationship Satrapi introduces herself as a 10 year old in Iran in 1980. She belonged to an upper middle class family with with her body until adulthood. She ate to cope with her sorrow and to protect herself from being hurt. She access to Western music, politics and art. She participated in protests against the Shah and witnessed his exile. believed that if she shrouded herself with weight, perhaps she would be so intolerable that she would ultimately Despite this, the impact resulted in religious extremism in society especially covering women’s bodies and
be free of male dominion over her body. Hunger is the story of being overweight when “the bigger you are, the
hair. In Persepolis 2, she describes taking refuge in Vienna, and having to fend for herself in a new place.
smaller your world becomes.”Her story is deeply personal, making a political statement about expectations of
Persepolis 1 and 2 are artistic representations of living in a turbulent society with questionable political
womanhood and gender, sexuality, trauma and hope. We learn how her body has “informed” her feminism and taught her about the greater machines of society demonizing fat bodies and that work so hard to produce unrealistic standards that we hunger for.
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