Call for contributions for an edited essay collection on Marjane Satrapi’s works (film, literature, and art).

Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel, Persepolis, was an instant success in France and the U.S. It has garnered numerous book prizes, and the animated film version was awarded the Grand Prize of the Jury at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Satrapi's other texts, including children's books, have been translated into numerous languages and published worldwide.

The proposed collection aims to examine Satrapi's works as literature, art, film and cultural phenomena, bringing diverse ideological and theoretical perspectives to bear on the intellectual and political issues that they raise.

Interdisciplinary essays as well as analyses rooted in disciplinary approaches are invited,including but not limited to the following topics:

• interplays of intimate/public politics,
• genre (graphic novel, comedy, film, autobiography, children’s literature, etc.),
• relation of text and graphics,
• representations of East and West,
• teaching approaches,
• audiences (local and global),
• immigration, boundaries, and border crossings (physical, cultural, psychological, and spiritual),
• intersections of gender, sexuality, class, age, and nationality,
• censorship,
• imprisonment, detention, and/or containment,
• Iranian cultures, history, and politics,
• U.S. foreign policies and their affect on Iran,
• Iran’s foreign policies and their local/global effects,
• resistance to and collusion with norms governing micro- and macro- social institutions,
• translation,
• hospitality and food, and
• drug use and addictions.

Marjane Satrapi at work

By August 31, 2008 (or before) submit double-spaced, two-page abstracts to

Colette Morrow
colettemorrow (at) aol.com
Fax: 708.524.8408
Tel: 708.524.8025

Department of English & Philosophy
Purdue University Calumet
Hammond, IN 46323 USA