Analysis of Baby-Boom Promoting Billboards in Iran
279(a) Situational context (physical, social, and cultural situation). The
physical setting includes the physical circumstances, viewing arrangement,
salient properties of the environment. This aspect of context does not seem
to have any perceptible effect on the formation of the figurative meanings
in the data.
The social situation includes role relationships such as husband vs.
wife, and power relations. Re-evaluating the concept of ‘housewife’, as a
major social role for Iranian women, is part of a broader attempt on behalf
of the supreme leader to revive the traditional family structure in Iran.
Picturing women inside the house in many of the illustrations might be
indicative of, or an emphasis on this role. In other words, the illustration
might want to link women with their most expected workplace (home).
The other aspect of the social context pertains to the notion of hijab,
which, together with other assumed features of Iranian women, such as
being housewife and responsible for raising many children, are pictorially
represented and provide an ideal or prototypical image of Iranian women
from the viewpoint of the billboard designers.
The cultural situation comprises the dominant values and characteristics
of members of a group, key concepts governing their lives, the various
products of a culture (Kövecses 2015). The cultural context is a major
factor in the construction of the target meanings observed in the data.
Religious concepts such as barekat ‘blessing/abundance’, the sanctity
associated with the Muslim prophet, Islamic lifestyle, cultural adaptation
to western lifestyle in terms of family size, are among the elements that
influence the structure of the meanings conveyed by the politicians and the
billboard designers:
(b) Discourse context: The discourses that precede a particular text and the
co-text that surrounds a particular metaphor used. The cultural and
political discourses on family planning, Islamic lifestyle (in the form of a
set of instructions prescribed by the prophet and other religious leaders)
are the main discourses that affect the structure of the meanings made for
the purpose of persuading Iranian families.
(c) Cognitive-conceptual context: The experiential knowledge represented
by frames acts as context in metaphor production. Moreover, he suggests
that the conventionalized figurative part of the conceptual system
(metaphor, metonymy, and blends) can be taken as contextual factors. A
conventional political metaphor (WESTERN CULTURE IS AN OPPONENT) and
a conventional religious metaphor (GOD IS A NOURISHER) demonstrate their
effect on the figurative meanings that the Iranian officials and the