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Framed Memories: The Politics of Recollection in Mana Neyestani’s An Iranian Metamorphosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Amir Khadem
Amir Khadem*
Affiliation:
Comparative Literature form the University of Alberta
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Abstract

This essay examines the graphic memoir An Iranian Metamorphosis, by the acclaimed cartoonist Mana Neyestani, in the context of Iranian diaspora literature, particularly the genre of comics. Neyestani’s book is analyzed for its engagement with the politics of exile literature, and its attempt at challenging a two-dimensional view of the political discourse, in which the ethical boundaries of pro- and anti-government are overtly simple. The essay focuses on the book’s narrative techniques that exhibit a complex awareness of what is anticipated from a representative work of Iranian exile memoir, and the way it negotiates its own narrative politics. To clarify the arguments, several comparative examples are drawn from two well-known graphic narratives by Iranian diaspora authors, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, and Amir and Khalil’s Zahra’s Paradise.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , May 2018 , pp. 479 - 497
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 Association For Iranian Studies, Inc

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