Obviously these are two very different works so how does the formation of Western identity compare to that of Middle Eastern?
Looking at these two works, it is difficult to compare them. How do you put on to a scale what it is like to grow up in America where the threat of bombings and severe punishment is almost zero whereas in 1980s Iran those are a part of daily life. The common ground here is that two girls are struggling to find themselves in the environment they have been given.
For this question, I will only be looking at the formation of identity in Western cultures and the formation of identity in Middle Eastern cultures in terms of these two graphic novels.
Enid's Western identity is hard to pinpoint, as we have obviously found out already. America has long been called the melting pot and that phrase goes for identities as well. There are so many different lifestyles for Enid to find her identity in that it seems near impossible for her to pick one. She is not bogged down by any threats of death for choosing to live one way or another so she is free to try out any and all lifestyles she can get her hands on before settling in on one. She tries the punk.
(Clowes 59)
And then she tries to get into the adult sex-shop lifestyle (and this is an obscure one).
(Clowes 71)
But she can only do these because she is living in a place where she can freely dress and act as she pleases.
Marji is not so lucky. When she is living in Iran, she is chastised several times for not adhering to the type of lifestyle that the extreme Islamic followers want to see. They try to force her into a box. However, when she spends time in Europe, she sees many different identities in a place where she is finally able to, like Enid, dress and act as she wants. She sees the emo/punk type portrayed through Momo.
(Satrapi 167)
Then there is the party girl type reflected in Julie.
(Satrapi 167)
But then there was the supposed anarchists, pacifist, druggie in Ingrid whom she met through her first European boyfriend, Enrique.
(Satrapi 218)
All of these different lifestyles converge to help Marji form her own by the end of the graphic novel. She finds that even though her experience in Europe was not perfect, it had helped her find herself through many varied experiences.
Both of these girls are only able to do what they want when they are in Western cultural settings.
Satrapi's graphic novel is obviously about her life but is Clowes in any way personally connected to his graphic novel?
Wow, Sara from a few weeks ago, I am really happy you asked this question to your future self (and technically everyone else reading this blog).
Anyways, in all seriousness, Clowes put a lot of himself into Ghost World. He says so himself in an interview with Joshua Glenn: "They're me. And what they go through is something which at that time of my life I was heavily caught up in - not so much 'I'm going to wear a hat today!' but more of a 'What kind of person am I?' kind of thing. I could never figure out where I fit in" (Glenn 136). The reason Enid was so troubled with identity issues was due to the fact that Clowes was troubled with the same things. He could not find that place to fit in so neither could Enid as she was, in a way, a projection of Clowes.
Satrapi was her own projection because she was writing and drawing the experiences of her life. There is no question of whether or not she put herself into her work because she very obviously did. But I think that it is only right to note that both of these authors were very brave in putting forth themselves, in whatever form they chose, in such a vulnerable state.
Which graphic novel is better at portraying the formation of identity?
Well, past Sara, I am disappointed in this question. There is no right answer! I don't think that there is a winner here and there are two reasons for that. The first is the simple fact that each graphic novel portrays situations vastly different from the other. The second is that because of these differences, different lessons are put out there for each reader to interpret as they please so what I may find as amazing or ghastly is what another reader could find ghastly or amazing.
I can compare the two all day long but in the end, we see that the bigger picture of how identity is shaped in different environments and situations. Despite Enid and Marji growing up in two different environments, we can see that it is the experiences that shape ones identity. Those experiences may be things that cannot be controlled, as is the case for Marji with the bombings, and they can be things that can be controlled, like which look Enid wants to go for each day. Experiences shape the person and this is the main lesson from both works.
Works Cited
"Ghost World." The Daniel Clowes Reader: A Critical Edition of Ghost World and Other Stories, with Essays, Interviews, and Annotations, edited by Ken Parille, Fantagraphics Books, 2013, pp. 47-118.
Glenn, Joshua. "Ghost World: An Interview with Daniel Clowes." The Daniel Clowes Reader: A Critical Edition of Ghost World and Other Stories, with Essays, Interviews, and Annotations, edited by Ken Parille, Fantagraphics Books, 2013, pp. 135-144.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York, Pantheon Books, 2003.
Looking at these two works, it is difficult to compare them. How do you put on to a scale what it is like to grow up in America where the threat of bombings and severe punishment is almost zero whereas in 1980s Iran those are a part of daily life. The common ground here is that two girls are struggling to find themselves in the environment they have been given.
For this question, I will only be looking at the formation of identity in Western cultures and the formation of identity in Middle Eastern cultures in terms of these two graphic novels.
Enid's Western identity is hard to pinpoint, as we have obviously found out already. America has long been called the melting pot and that phrase goes for identities as well. There are so many different lifestyles for Enid to find her identity in that it seems near impossible for her to pick one. She is not bogged down by any threats of death for choosing to live one way or another so she is free to try out any and all lifestyles she can get her hands on before settling in on one. She tries the punk.
(Clowes 59)
(Clowes 71)Marji is not so lucky. When she is living in Iran, she is chastised several times for not adhering to the type of lifestyle that the extreme Islamic followers want to see. They try to force her into a box. However, when she spends time in Europe, she sees many different identities in a place where she is finally able to, like Enid, dress and act as she wants. She sees the emo/punk type portrayed through Momo.
(Satrapi 167)
(Satrapi 167)
(Satrapi 218)Both of these girls are only able to do what they want when they are in Western cultural settings.
Satrapi's graphic novel is obviously about her life but is Clowes in any way personally connected to his graphic novel?
Wow, Sara from a few weeks ago, I am really happy you asked this question to your future self (and technically everyone else reading this blog).
Anyways, in all seriousness, Clowes put a lot of himself into Ghost World. He says so himself in an interview with Joshua Glenn: "They're me. And what they go through is something which at that time of my life I was heavily caught up in - not so much 'I'm going to wear a hat today!' but more of a 'What kind of person am I?' kind of thing. I could never figure out where I fit in" (Glenn 136). The reason Enid was so troubled with identity issues was due to the fact that Clowes was troubled with the same things. He could not find that place to fit in so neither could Enid as she was, in a way, a projection of Clowes.
Satrapi was her own projection because she was writing and drawing the experiences of her life. There is no question of whether or not she put herself into her work because she very obviously did. But I think that it is only right to note that both of these authors were very brave in putting forth themselves, in whatever form they chose, in such a vulnerable state.
Which graphic novel is better at portraying the formation of identity?
Well, past Sara, I am disappointed in this question. There is no right answer! I don't think that there is a winner here and there are two reasons for that. The first is the simple fact that each graphic novel portrays situations vastly different from the other. The second is that because of these differences, different lessons are put out there for each reader to interpret as they please so what I may find as amazing or ghastly is what another reader could find ghastly or amazing.
I can compare the two all day long but in the end, we see that the bigger picture of how identity is shaped in different environments and situations. Despite Enid and Marji growing up in two different environments, we can see that it is the experiences that shape ones identity. Those experiences may be things that cannot be controlled, as is the case for Marji with the bombings, and they can be things that can be controlled, like which look Enid wants to go for each day. Experiences shape the person and this is the main lesson from both works.
Works Cited
"Ghost World." The Daniel Clowes Reader: A Critical Edition of Ghost World and Other Stories, with Essays, Interviews, and Annotations, edited by Ken Parille, Fantagraphics Books, 2013, pp. 47-118.
Glenn, Joshua. "Ghost World: An Interview with Daniel Clowes." The Daniel Clowes Reader: A Critical Edition of Ghost World and Other Stories, with Essays, Interviews, and Annotations, edited by Ken Parille, Fantagraphics Books, 2013, pp. 135-144.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York, Pantheon Books, 2003.
Comments
Post a Comment