Reading Persepolis in D.C.

Amidst all the news out of Iran this weekend, I reopened Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, her memoir of growing up in, and eventually leaving, Tehran during the Islamic Revolution.  The graphic novel is visually striking and emotionally powerful, but most relevant to this moment, it's also an excellent personal history of political protest in Iran.  Sometimes the protests are against the Shah, when the police burn down a movie theater full of liberals and lock the patrons inside.  Sometimes they're conflicts between women wearing veils and those who see the veil as a symbol of oppression.  Sometimes the demonstrations end in physical violence, sometimes just in fear and shame, or conflicts between parents and children.  But as Western observers, especially those of us who live in countries where spontaneous street protests are fairly rare, and almost never involve any serious violence, it's worth considering the history of Iran's political culture as we try to interpret the reaction to the recent elections.  Satrapi may be a novelist, rather than a historian, but she evokes the emotions of ordinary Iranians, and the context young protesters grew up with, as well as any political analyst.