Comic Visions and Revisions in the work of Lynda Barry and Marjane Satrapi

Abstract

Lynda Barry's "autobiofictionalography" One! Hundred! Demons! (2002) and Marjane Satrapi's memoir Persepolis (2004) recast the visual and narrative conventions of comics to provide critical commentary on issues ranging from the social construction of gender to the forces subtending forms of prejudice. The works literally as well as figuratively draw out the ways in which the transition from childhood to adulthood becomes overdetermined by narratives of development that set gendered roles, articulate racial demarcations, inscribe religious differences, and authorize imperialist vision; they also highlight the ways in which figures resist, subvert, and capitulate to forces of social coercion and normative visions.