Woman, Life, Freedom

by Marjane Satrapi, Una Dimitrijevic (Translator)

Overview

An urgent, groundbreaking and visually stunning new collection of graphic story-telling about the present Iranian revolution, using comics to show what would be censored in photos and film in Iran.

Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis, returns to graphic art with this collaboration of over 20 activists, artists, journalists, and academics working together to depict the historic uprising, in solidarity with the Iranian people and in defense of feminism.

On September 13th 2022, a young Iranian student, Mahsa Amini, was arrested by the morality police in Tehran. Her only crime was that she wasn’t properly wearing the headscarf required for women by the Islamic Republic. At the police station, she was beaten so badly she had to be taken to the hospital, where she fell into a deep coma. She died three days later.

A wave of protests soon spread through the whole country, and crowds adopted the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom”—words that have been chanted around the world during solidarity rallies.

In order to tell the story of this major revolution happening in her homeland, Marjane Satrapi has gathered together an array of journalists, activists, academics, artists, and writers from around the world to create this powerful collection of full-color, graphic-novel-style essays and perspectives that bear witness:

• Contributing artists: Joann Sfar, Coco, Mana Neyastani, Catel, Pascal Rabate, Patricia Bolanos, Paco Roca, Bahareh Akrami, Hippolyte, Shabnam Adiban, Lewis Trondheim, Winshluss, Touka Neyastani, Bee, Deloupy, Nicolas Wild, and Marjane Satrapi.

• 3 expert perspectives on Iran: long-time journalist for Libération and political scientist Jean-Pierre Perrin; researcher and Iran specialist Farid Vahid; and UC Berkeley historian Abbas Milani, Director of the Iranian Studies program at Stanford University.

Woman, Life, Freedom demonstrates that this is not an unexpected movement, but a major uprising in a long history of women who have wanted to affirm their rights. It will continue.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781644214053
Publisher:	Seven Stories Press
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	108,172
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

MARJANE SATRAPI, author of Persepolis, is an autobiographical series that sold more than two million copies and won international awards. After writing two other prize-winning books (Embroidery and Chicken with Plums), she devoted herself to cinema and painting. Her first two films are adaptations of her works: the animated film Persepolis, which received two Cesar awards and was nominated for an Oscar, and her film Poulet aux prunes, which won awards in Abu Dhabi and Sao Paulo.

UNA DIMITRIJEVIĆ was born in Bosnia, grew up in Scotland, and now lives in France. She translates from Serbo-Croat and French into English. Her translations of The Mental Load: A Feminist Comic and The Emotional Load and Other Invisible Stuff were published by Seven Stories Press in 2018 and 2020.

JEAN-PIERRE PERRIN is a journalist, war correspondent, and reporter who covers the Near and Middle East, and currently the Iran correspondent for Médiapart. His books have been awarded the
Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle and the Joseph Kessel Prize.

FARID VAHID is an Iranian political scientist. He graduated from the University of Tehran in electrical engineering and from Sciences Po Lyon in international relations. He now lives in Paris where he is director of the Observatory of North Africa and the Middle East of the Jean Jaurès Foundation.

ABBAS MALEKZADEH MILANI is an Iranian-American historian. He is a visiting professor of political science and director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. He is also a researcher and co-director of the Democracy in Iran Project at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.

Contributing artists, including four Iranians. Joann Sfar, Coco, Mana Neyastani, Catel, Pascal Rabate, Patricia Bolanos, Paco Roca, Bahareh Akrami, Hippolyte, Shabnam Adiban, Lewis Trondheim, Winshluss, Touka Neyastani, Bee, Deloupy, Nicolar Wild, Hamoun. (Two artists have taken a pen name, Bee and Hamoun.)

Read an Excerpt

Introduction by Marjane Satrapi

On September 16, 2022, Mahsa Amini was beaten to death by the Iranian morality police for wearing her veil “improperly.” Her death sparked a nationwide outcry, evolving into a feminist revolution that gained the support of men—a truly unprecedented development.

Sophie, the heart and soul of the L’Iconoclaste publishing house and my dear friend, was not content with mere outrage and indignation. She was determined to take tangible action, driven by how profoundly connected she felt to the young people of Iran. The idea of this book was hers. It would be her publishing house’s first graphic novel and it would be titled: Woman, Life, Freedom.

Joined by Alba Beccaria, the book’s editor, we began to craft both its form and substance. We needed to work with people who knew Iran intimately. Among our chosen experts were Farid Vahid, a political scientist specializing in Iran at the Fondation Jean-Jaurès, Jean-Pierre Perrin, a seasoned reporter previously with Libération and now a contributor to Mediapart, and Professor Abbas Milani, a historian and Director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University.

We then reached out to around twenty gifted artists to produce comics or illustrations based on texts and scenarios prepared by our experts. Four Iranian artists and thirteen others from Europe and America are the final contributors to this project.
 
Having bid farewell to my career as a cartoonist back in 2004, I contributed a handful of drawings, including the cover, as well as a few written pieces.

I didn’t know what it meant to oversee the compilation of such a book, and in many ways I still don’t, but what I do know is that this was truly a collaborative effort.

The result is the volume you hold in your hands. It is being published simultaneously in several countries and made available free of charge online in Persian for all Iranians.

Woman, Life, Freedom is driven by two aims.
 
First, it seeks to explain what’s going on in Iran, to decipher events in all their complexity and nuance for a non-Iranian readership, and to help you understand them as fully as possible. While it’s impossible to capture every facet of this story, we want to acknowledge its existence. Because it’s happening now, even if we don’t hear enough about it.

The second aim of this book is to remind Iranians that they are not alone. Of course, the world’s politicians are only politicians, and will do little, if anything, for the Iranian people. But Western civil society is committed to their cause. The proof is that most of the artists involved in this project are Westerners. And what greater support can an artist give than their art?

On the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, for the brave and noble struggle of the Iranian people, and in memory of Sophie, who left us in late spring 2023, we offer our humble contribution to the pursuit of freedom that the people of Iran so profoundly merit.
 
—Marjane Satrapi

Table of Contents

A PERSIAN TALE OF GOOD AND EVIL - Marjane Satrapi & Abbas Milani

1. THE EVENTS
SPARKING A REVOLUTION - Bahareh Akrami & Farid Vahid
THE BIRTH OF A SLOGAN - Catel & Jean-Pierre Perrin
THE ANTHEM OF THE UPRISING - Shabnam Adiban & Farid Vahid
A DEMONSTRATION IN IRAN - Pascal Rabaté & Jean-Pierre Perrin
IN THE HELLHOLE OF EVIN PRISON - Mana Neyestani & Farid Vahid
BLOODY FRIDAY - Winshluss & Jean-Pierre Perrin
REBELLING AT TWENTY - Paco Roca & Farid Vahid
THE WINTER OF EXECUTIONS - Touka Neyestani & Jean-Pierre Perrin
POISONED SCHOOLGIRLS - Bee & Farid Vahid
THEY'RE WATCHING YOU - Mana Neyestani & Farid Vahid
 
2. A BIT OF HISTORY
THE THREE REVOLUTIONS - Hamoun & Abbas Milani
NOWRUZ WITH THE FAMILY - Hippolyte & Farid Vahid
WHO RULES IRAN? - Touka Neyestani & Jean-Pierre Perrin
FEARED AND HATED - Marjane Satrapi
THE RICH KIDS OF THE REGIME - Patricia Bolaños & Farid Vahid
THE MADNESS OF CENSORSHIP - Lewis Trondheim & Jean-Pierre Perrin
DIALOGUE WITH THE DEAD - Paco Roca & Jean-Pierre Perrin
 
3. AN IRON REGIME . . . A PEOPLE RESISTING
NAMES THAT WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY - Bahareh Akrami & Farid Vahid
IN THE HEART OF THE DIASPORA - Bee & Farid Vahid
A PARTY FRAUGHT WITH PERIL - Shabnam Adiban & Farid Vahid
THE ART OF REBELLION - Deloupy & Farid Vahid
MALE TURF - Coco & Jean-Pierre Perrin
WOMEN SAYING NO - Nicolas Wild & Jean-Pierre Perrin
 
AND THEN?

Editorial Reviews

"A small miracle of lively, serious and joyful intelligence, like Marjane." —Elle (France)

*"Satrapi (Persepolis) brings together a sweeping anthology of political essays in comics form that takes its title from the protest chant of the feminist uprising in Iran following the 2022 beating to death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police for wearing her head covering “improperly.” In entries representing the stunning breadth and vitality of the Iranian resistance movement, the government’s oppression of women is framed as just one symptom of a diseased and dying system. “The guy who wants to control your body and your life also wants to control what you’re thinking and not thinking.... It’s not just about the veil,” warn Bahareh Akrami and Farid Vahid in the volume’s opener, “Sparking a Revolution.” The following sections dig into state censorship and spy networks; the brutality of the Revolutionary Guards; the abuses in Evin prison, a “hellhole” where the incarcerated are forced into false confessions; the corruption represented by “the aghazadeh,” high-living young elites; and the “Blue Girl,” a female soccer fan, imprisoned for attending a match, who self-immolated in protest. The impressive spectrum of art ranges from Par Mana Neyestani’s claustrophobic crosshatching, to Joann Sfar’s charmingly loose lines, to Touka Neyestani’s unforgettable caricature of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei strolling into a sea of blood. Interstitial drawings by Satrapi in her trademark, fiercely thick-lined style include a gorgeous portrait of Amini with her hair flowing like flames. The result is a stirring call for change that reminds readers “the art of rebellion is an everyday battle.” — Publisher's Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)


“ The author of Persepolis returns with a collection about burgeoning activism in Iran. In September 2022, the beating and death of Mahsa Jina Amini, an Iranian student arrested for not wearing her headscarf properly, incited a solidarity movement among women and men that spread around the world. To publicize and bear witness to this major uprising, Satrapi has gathered stories, cartoons, and essays from more than 20 artists, activists, journalists, and academics. The author has two aims: “to explain what’s going on in Iran, to decipher events in all their complexity and nuance for a non-Iranian readership, and to help you understand them as fully as possible”; and “to remind Iranians that they are not alone.” Setting the movement in context, Iranian American historian Abbas Milani offers an overview of the political upheavals and revolutions that have led to the current misogynist, repressive regime and the “resolute defiance” that has emerged in protest. As each contributor attests, life under a wrathful dictatorship is consistently frightening and dangerous: “The Islamic Republic ensures its own survival by murdering people. During the successive demonstrations” over Amini’s murder, “several hundred people were killed in an attempt to strike fear into the hearts of protesters. Young people were forced to confess under torture.” Women are especially vulnerable. Since November 2022, young students in schools across Iran have been poisoned by toxic gas as part of an attempt to force girls’ schools to close. Protecting the regime falls to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a paramilitary organization that answers directly to Khomeini, the Supreme Leader, and for the past four decades has carried out a reign of terror. This collection pays homage to victims and celebrates the dreams of Iran’s determined activists. Other contributors include Joanne Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, Paco Roca, and Mana Neyestani. An impassioned message of rage and hope.” — Kirkus

"The visual medium enhances the storytelling and creates an immersive reading experience that accessibly communicates information. In my favorite vignettes, such as “In the Heart of the Diaspora,” I felt like I was eavesdropping on conversations that felt both familiar and incredibly complex, much as I felt while reading Persepolis." —Kelly Blewett, BookPage (STARRED REVIEW)

"Woman Life Freedom offers an engrossing portrait of a population held back by restrictive leaders"—The Economist

"Each comic in this anthology might also function as a small lantern, an opportunity to illuminate yet another aspect of daily Iranian life and resistance under the current regime." —The Markaz Review

From the Publisher

2024-01-05
The author of Persepolisreturns with a collection about burgeoning activism in Iran.

In September 2022, the beating and death of Mahsa Jina Amini, an Iranian student arrested for not wearing her headscarf properly, incited a solidarity movement among women and men that spread around the world. To publicize and bear witness to this major uprising, Satrapi has gathered stories, cartoons, and essays from more than 20 artists, activists, journalists, and academics. The author has two aims: “to explain what’s going on in Iran, to decipher events in all their complexity and nuance for a non-Iranian readership, and to help you understand them as fully as possible”; and “to remind Iranians that they are not alone.” Setting the movement in context, Iranian American historian Abbas Milani offers an overview of the political upheavals and revolutions that have led to the current misogynist, repressive regime and the “resolute defiance” that has emerged in protest. As each contributor attests, life under a wrathful dictatorship is consistently frightening and dangerous: “The Islamic Republic ensures its own survival by murdering people. During the successive demonstrations” over Amini’s murder, “several hundred people were killed in an attempt to strike fear into the hearts of protesters. Young people were forced to confess under torture.” Women are especially vulnerable. Since November 2022, young students in schools across Iran have been poisoned by toxic gas as part of an attempt to force girls’ schools to close. Protecting the regime falls to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a paramilitary organization that answers directly to Khomeini, the Supreme Leader, and for the past four decades has carried out a reign of terror. This collection pays homage to victims and celebrates the dreams of Iran’s determined activists. Other contributors include Joanne Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, Paco Roca, and Mana Neyestani.

An impassioned message of rage and hope.

Kirkus Reviews