Critical pedagogy of a post-9/11 Muslim memoir

Abstract

Traditional education of literature would do injustice to both students and the discipline in this age of globalization. This is the era when teachers should use critical pedagogy to teach any genre of literature. Nowadays, a great number of memoirs form the Middle East perpetuate Islamophobia; yet some of them are taught at schools in the West. Perpetrating and perpetuating Islamophobia, as a trait of globalization, can be seen in some Iranian diasporic writings as well. This paper examines Persepolis: The story of a childhood, a diasporic Iranian memoir that is included in the educational curriculum of some Western schools. Utilizing Fiore’s theory of critical pedagogy, we seek to provide ways for critical pedagogy of this memoir, and our discussion shows teachers how to use a text such as this to teach against Islamophobia.