A look at the tumultuous life of 'Persepolis' as it turns 20

The English translation of the now classic memoir Persepolis by comics artist, painter and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi turned 20 this year — and it's being celebrated with the release of a new hardcover edition in August.

Based on the author's life and told in spare but dramatically rendered black-and-white comics, it tells the story of a young, precocious, outspoken girl who grows up in Iran during the 1979 revolution — and its tumultuous aftermath, including the Iran-Iraq War. She, her family and others around them struggle to adjust to living in the new Islamic Republic, with its oppressive rules. Many of them also rally around one another, putting their survival and comfort regularly on the line for the sake of love and self-determination.

The changed laws in Iran famously included compulsory head coverings in public for all women and girls over the age of 9, regardless of personal beliefs. But, among other things, the laws also decreased the ages at which girls and boys were allowed to marry as well as limited the rights of women to initiate divorce and retain custody of their children. As of late, Satrapi, who has not returned to Iran in over two decades, has been back in the news. This is largely a result of the ongoing protests and civil unrest catalyzed by the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, in September 2022. Amini died while in police custody, after being detained for the way she was wearing her head covering.

The rekindled public opposition to religious authorities in Iran has unsurprisingly led back to Satrapi and her work. "What I have lived, the youth is living now," she said in an interview with The Guardian last fall.

The cartoonist, who has described her autobiographical comics as an ode to her home country, first published the memoir in four installments, between 2000 and 2003, in France, where she moved after leaving Iran when she was still in her 20s. The work was put out in two volumes in an English translation shortly thereafter. In 2007, the already critically renowned Persepolis broadened its reach when it was adapted into an animated film, co-directed by the author — albeit after some hesitation — and ultimately earning a Jury Prize at Cannes. The film, which includes the voice of famous French actress Catherine Deneuve in the role of Marjane's mother, was promptly condemned by Iranian authorities.

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/17/1186975635/book-marjane-satrapi-persepolis-turns-20

I read the article and still don't understand why it gets challenged ot banned *sigh*