Abstract
This article examines the dialectical dynamic between oppression and resistance in Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoir, through the lenses of postcolonial and feminist theory. Drawing on key conceptual frameworks such as “subalternity” (Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak), “intersectionality” (Patricia Hill Collins and Sirma Bilge) and “orientalism” (Edward Said), the study explores how identity, voice, and agency are negotiated under conditions of political and religious authoritarianism and diasporic displacement. The analysis foregrounds not only the external apparatuses of domination but also the internalized mechanisms of control that shape subject formation. Furthermore, the article critically engages with Pascale Casanova’s model of world literary circulation, arguing that Persepolis subverts dominant aesthetic paradigms by achieving global recognition without compromising its cultural specificity. By employing a hybrid medium—the graphic novel—and juxtaposing minimalist visual style with thematically dense political content, Satrapi produces a counter-discourse that resists exoticization and reclaims narrative sovereignty. Ultimately, the memoir destabilizes binary constructions of East and West and articulates a space for complex, intersectional identities and narrative subversion.