Description:

Over the past two millennia, dominant Western narratives of the Persian Wars have established a problematic East-West binary in which Greece is represented as a heroic defender of democracy and the Persians are represented as a villainous, totalitarian "Other" determined to subject all they encounter. In this presentation we shall examine contemporary representations of the Persian Wars through a visual critique of two recent graphic novels, Frank Miller's infamous 300, and Ramin Abari's Xerxes Speaks. By comparing these two pieces the presenter hopes to demonstrate how the 300 franchise reinforces the hero-villain dynamic and Xerxes Speaks, in providing a Persian account of the conflict, attempts to subvert the hero-villain dynamic.

James Proszek is a first year PhD student in Northwestern's Rhetoric and Public Culture program and the MENA certificate program. His primary interests are comparative rhetoric and pedagogy. His presentation, "Drawn Apart: Visual Representations of the Persian Wars" offers a critical visual rhetorical analysis of contemporary illustrations of the Persian Wars in two recent graphic novels.

Commentary to follow by Azadeh Safaeian.