In an age increasingly dominated by simplified narratives about identity and geopolitics, Satrapi insisted on complexity. She reminded readers that a people is never identical to its government, just as a life can never be reduced to a political category. Instead, she sought to humanize Iranians and reclaim the complexity of everyday life. That is why her work continues to resonate today: not because it explains Iran once and for all, but because it demonstrates how individual lives can illuminate history better than ideological certainties ever could. In a world increasingly drawn to black-and-white visions of politics and identity, the artist who drew almost exclusively in black and white devoted her life to revealing the shades of grey.
ConveningBooks
Jonathan Laurence will be joined by José Casanova, Pasquale Ferrara, and Nilüfer Göle to discuss his most recent publication, “Coping with Defeat: Sunni Islam, Roman Catholicism and the Modern State” published by Princeton University Press, on Wednesday the 14th of December. Hope to see you there!
A book presentation organised by Reset Dialogues on Civilizations at Istituto Affari Internazionali, Rome