In Persepolis, there are a lot of different types of narration theories that can be made but person, dramatized and dramatized narrators, and commentary are further explained below.
Booth explains the narration theory titled, “person,” as a time when we get to know the narrator better. The young girl in Persepolis, is in fact the author of this book, Marjane Satrapi. I came to this understanding when the grandmother on page 6 says, “Come here Marji! Help me to stand up” (p 6). When the grandmother says this, there is a complete understanding for the audience to know that the young girl is the author of the book that they are reading. It is important to know this information because whenever you are reading a story you need to know what is going on and what the author wants the audience to realize.
Booth explains the narration theory titled, “dramatized and undramatized narrators,” as the narrator creates an implicit picture for the audience of who the narrator is (151). In this section Booth explains that sometimes we get a glimpse of who the author is. When reading the first part of Persepolis, Marji expresses that she wants to become a prophet (p8). Along with that she also has many conversations with God and that He is her closest friends. Knowing that the young girl is the author, Satrapi, we collect that she has some type of religious background. Although this may not be important to know for the story but it is important to know so that we have a better understanding what type of person the author is. It allows us to better connect with the author and knowing this knowledge allows us to better understand what she is writing.
Another narration theory the Booth explains is, “commentary can range over any aspect of human experience, and it can be related to the main business in innumerable ways and degrees” (p 155). As Booth states, commentary is meant for a picture to be painted for the audience/ reader. In Persepolis, it is obvious what type of famine is being illustrated. Along with it being a comic strip-like book and having pictures, Satrapi does a great job of telling the audience what is going on in the story with her description of words. On pages 51 and 52, when the death of Ahmadi is explained, pictures are not needed to illustrate in your mind what is going on. Having the knowledge that this really happened in that time period helps us better understand what people went through.
Although there are only three narration theories stated here, there are a lot more that could be related to Persepolis. Being able to relate literature to types of narration theories makes the understanding of the literature more fluid as we digest the material.
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An Extension on the Idea of First Person Limited in Persepolis
ReplyDeleteI agree with the identification of the narrator as first person limited in Satrapi’s Persepolis. But, I would like to add to this idea. Satrapi’s child narrator is an example of Booth’s idea of a wide spectrum of “privilege” even in first person limited narrators (160-163). The narrator’s “privilege” is expanded in the novel by her borrowing of the stories of other characters. For example, Satrapi’s Uncle Anoosh’s anecdotes are accounted as if he is originally telling them. This mixing of adult and child-like narration expands the privilege of the narrator.
Booth says that “the most important single privilege is that of obtaining an inside view of another character, because of the rhetorical power that such a privilege conveys upon a narrator”(160-161). This is particularly important in the conveying of the complex ideas in Persepolis. For example, Uncle Anoosh begins to tell the story of how “Uncle Fereydoon and his friends proclaimed the independence of the Iranian Province of Azerbaijan”(Satrapi 55). This perspective presents the story in a more logical format than the child narrator alone could. For example, the narrator reacts to the story in her own words by saying that it is “better than Laly’s father.” So, she doesn’t seem able to process the importance of the story immediately on her own, instead she takes the information in and responds in an unfiltered manner according to her childish priorities. The usefulness of this outside narrative source is also exemplified when Uncle Anoosh says “the religious leaders don’t know how to govern. They will return to their mosques. The proletariat shall rule! It’s inevitable!!! That’s just what Lenin explained in ‘The State and The Revolution’” (Satrapi 62). This helps to clarify the disjointed ideas that the narrator reports reading about.
The use of extended narrative privilege exists and is needed in Persepolis because the ideas are deeply political and complex. They need an adult perspective in order to understand fully the gravity of the events taking place, but Satrapi also utilizes the child narrator to approach the issues with an innocent and open perspective. This is an example of Booth’s identification of the complex ways that a narrator can be first person limited.