Middle Eastern History As Seen Through Two Beautiful Graphic Memoirs

Your standard history textbook — so often it’s a dry text packed with names and dates. The absurdly heavy volume that teachers assign for homework and quizzes. In short, no fun…

So how can we make history fun again?

Well, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton succeeded in glorious fashion. I’ve never known so much about the American Revolution, the establishment of our country’s financial policies, and the early debates of our first leaders and presidents. 

But I digress…

How to make history fun again? Try a graphic novel or a graphic memoir! Pages packed with illustrations. Stories told visually with the text as a side note, confined to dialogue bubbles or remarks from the narrator. In a graphic memoir, everyday events and conversations flit in and around larger historical events. There are no page-long paragraphs. No dry quotations or lists of names and dates. Yes, I believe the graphic genre is a fantastic way to learn history and explore historical themes.

Middle Eastern literature has stunning examples of graphic memoirs. And today we explore two of my favorites. Come see how these books provide a window into historical events and issues, stimulating further questions and discussion.

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It Won’t Always Be Like This

I recently read It Won’t Always Be Like This by the Egyptian-Filipino author and illustrator Malaka Gharib. Her graphic memoir shines a light on the unique challenges of multicultural families, as she grew up with an Egyptian father and a Filipino mother. Her treatment of cultural misunderstandings is spot on. As are her complex thoughts on the nature of home and identity. 

Gharib visited her father in Egypt every summer as a child, jumping into a culture and language she barely knew. In one instance, she offended her stepmother by mistake, and in another, locals assumed she was a foreign tourist. As the book moves along, summer after summer, Gharib questions who she is – an Egyptian? A Filipino? Something else altogether? 

We witness how Egypt changes over time as well. Gharib’s father moved to the United Arab Emirates for a better job as the Egyptian economy struggled, sending money back to his extended family. Remittances like this continue to support families across Egypt. In fact, Egyptian workers abroad sent home a staggering 32.3 billion dollars last year, the fifth-largest amount of any country worldwide.

Malaka Gharib’s graphic memoir, published in 2022, eloquently portrays her stories in beautiful pastel colors. And through these touching topics, we see her personal history and a glimpse into the history of Egypt, the history of migration, and our cross-cultural world.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Discussions of graphic memoirs from the Middle East often feature the classic work Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. And for good reason. In this work, the French-Iranian illustrator and author Marjane Satrapi reveals the human side of life in Iran in the late 70s and early 80s. Her parents and relatives were politically active, and young Satrapi witnessed the profound social changes firsthand. 

Through short vignettes of daily life, we learn about the fall of the Shah and the Islamic Revolution. Veils become mandatory, government crackdowns grow stronger and more repressive, and Satrapi’s family goes in and out of jail. Then the Iran-Iraq war begins, an eight-year conflict with chemical weapons and intense trench warfare. Satrapi’s tales reveal the effect of this war on ordinary citizens, as well as the power of persistence in the face of pain and adversity.

This work brilliantly treats tough topics through sharp black and white artwork. The images soar off the page, as lines and curves stand in sharp relief to the powerful events laid bare before the reader. We learn, we laugh, we choke and we gasp. Sarcasm and sadness told through the honest eyes of a child growing into a young adult.

What Next?

How to make history fun again? The answer should be clear: try a graphic novel or a graphic memoir! Middle Eastern authors like Satrapi and Gharib have penned beautiful graphic memoirs, works that trace their own stories while also highlighting historical events and important contemporary issues. Satrapi’s sequel Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return is a great read too, as is Gharib’s first work I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir. And other authors cover their own experiences in countries across the region, including Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, and elsewhere. Check out a full list of my favorite graphic works here, or ask for recommendations at your local library or neighborhood bookstore.

And I encourage you to support these authors by purchasing their work for yourself! Stop by your local bookstore, click the links above, or visit online sites like Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, or Powell’s. Then share your thoughts with me too. What are your favorite graphic novels? What have you learned from reading these types of memoirs and graphic works?

Lastly, if you’re looking for more suggestions, browse through my previous posts about Middle Eastern books and literature. We’ve discussed outstanding examples of Turkish literature and explored six must-read authors from Kuwait. I’ve covered non-fiction works on the blog as well. Recently, I created an epic list of Middle Eastern cookbooks (every English-language cookbook about Middle Eastern food from 2010 to 2022!) and also described a number of wonderful history books about World War Two in North Africa.