The article analyzes several aspects of the representation of the phenomenon of religion in M. Satrapi’s graphic novel “Persepolis”. The artistic material offers an original form of observation of religion in the socio-political and cultural context of Iran from 1980 to 1994, i.e. describes the events of the Islamic Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War and the post-war period in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Represented in a minimalist black-and-white style, the autobiographical comic shows the transformation of children’s religiosity, offers the experience of “lived religion”, and reveals various cultural codes: ancient Iranian Zoroastrianism, Islam, Christianity, feminist ideology, philosophical humanism. The focus is on issues of personal identity, the oppositions good/evil, freedom/pressure, native/foreign, subjective expectations/objective structures. The question of legitimacy of “oppression” becomes the dominant feature of reflection on religion. This issue is especially acute in the visualization of the artist’s rejection of the requirements of the Islamic dress code (hijab) and the prescribed normative behavior for women. The form of graphic narrative on the one hand reveals the existence of “invisible” forms of religion (conversations with God, prayers, dreams, experiences of family and cultural memory) and offers an alternative (protest) version of religion as a personally significant way of life.

Keywords: M. Satrapi, graphic novel, visual rhetoric, children’s religiosity, Zoroastrianism, Islam, female identity