The Violation of Human Rights in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis

Abstract

A critical analysis of the official Iranian accusations against Persepolis would not persuade the officials of their impasse. Rather, there would be a risk that such an analysis might relegate Persepolis to the condition of some memoirs published by Iranian exiles in the West: that of contributing to the propaganda in favour of imposing regime change on Iran by ever more destructive sanctions or the threat of military force. I hope that in confronting those accusations with a discussion of the text of Persepolis, one might avoid that risk. An invasion would in fact fuel the nationalistic patriotism of many exiled Iranians and send them home to fight for their country. One might, however, argue to a Western readership in favour of a deeper grasp of the political and aesthetic complexities of Satrapi’s work. For that, a critique of the Iranian charges is a means to an end.