HUMAN 1C Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Iran Air, Persian Letters, The Persians
Lecture #17: How Can One Be Persian?
“How Can One Be Persian?” by Satrapi
● The question “how can one be Persian” appears in Charles Secondat Baron de
Montesquieu’s epistolary novel, Lettres Persanes (Persian Letters), published in 1721
● Character gets tired of people questioning him about his dress and where he’s from and
“This made me give up Persian costume and dress like a European, to see if there was
still anything remarkable about my countenance...Free of all foreign adornments, I found
myself assessed more exactly...I fell into a terrible state of non-existence...But if
someone happened to tell the company that I was Persian, I would immediately hear a
buzz around me: ‘Oh! Oh! Is he Persian?...How can one be Persian?’”
○ “How can one be Persian?” - How is it possible that you can pass as a French
person? This shows how the French view the “other” and the stereotype they
have for people such as Persians?
○ Montesquieu uses these foreigners to analyze and critique French society
● Satrapi evokes this phrase
○ “...we are told that we are Persians and that Persia was a great empire.
Otherwise we are Iranians. The Persians are in Montesquieu’s writings...As for
the Iranians, they take Americans hostage, they detonate bombs...They were
discovered after the 1979 revolution.”
○ “We are set -- stuck, really -- somewhere between Scherezade’s famed One
Thousand and One Nights and the bearded terrorist with his manic wife
disguised as a crow”. One Thousand and One Nights is the tale of a woman
telling a murderous king part of a story every night and never finishing to prevent
him from killing her and other women.
On November 4, 1979 a group of radical students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and took
52 diplomats and Embassy Stagg Hostage and held them for 444 days.
● Iranians felt they were paying the Americans back for 1953. But the US embassy is
considered US territory, and storming the Embassy is considered one of the worst ways
to break international law.
Satrapi wrote her novels in French in the genre of the graphic novel. Satrapi is a graphic artist.
● One of the pages: “In 1973 a revolution took place. It was later called “the islamic
revolution”. Then came 1980: The year it became obligatory to wear the veil at school.
We didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had
to.
● The novel was made into a film in 2007.
○ This story is based on her experiences growing up in Iran, Austria, and France,
but is not autobiographical. It is more representative and is based on her own
experiences. “As soon as you make a story, you have to have some fiction.”
○ “Human being, anywhere, is the same.”
○ She wants to express how she and those around her experience the revolution.
She does not restrict herself from exploring stereotypes associated with Iran.
Opening sequence of the film: How does the use of color function?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The question how can one be persian appears in charles secondat baron de. Montesquieu"s epistolary novel, lettres persanes (persian letters), published in 1721. Character gets tired of people questioning him about his dress and where he"s from and. Montesquieu uses these foreigners to analyze and critique french society. We are told that we are persians and that persia was a great empire. The persians are in montesquieu"s writingsas for the iranians, they take americans hostage, they detonate bombsthey were discovered after the 1979 revolution. We are set -- stuck, really -- somewhere between scherezade"s famed one. Thousand and one nights and the bearded terrorist with his manic wife disguised as a crow . One thousand and one nights is the tale of a woman telling a murderous king part of a story every night and never finishing to prevent him from killing her and other women.
