292 Chapter Thirteen
Figure 3. Comparative pictures of Iranian and western lifestyles and their
corresponding outcomes in 30 years.
The twin lower pictures represent an un-Islamic (western) lifestyle and
its consequences. In the lower right hand picture, OPPOSING THE IDEA OF
HAVING CHILDREN and WEARING MODEST CLOTHES are the allegedly
prototypical features of a couple who have adopted a western way of
living. These features are highlighted by the application of the SALIENT
PROPERTIES FOR CATEGORY metonymy. In the lower left hand picture, the
consequences of an un-Islamic lifestyle are pictorially manifested;
LONELINESS, DIVORCE, HAVING PETS and DEPRESSION are the salient
features that constitute the main elements of the UN-ISLAMIC LIFESTYLE
conceptual category. Like the corresponding picture, in this case, the
RESULT FOR ACTION metonymy highlights the negative effects of following
western lifestyle.
Figure 4 shows a school boy holding a book called ‘Fictitious Stories’
talking to his teacher in 2040 (24 years from now). At the top of the
picture the slogan ‘More Children, A Better Future’ is written. The boy
asks the teacher curiously about kinship terms: ‘Excuse me, teacher! What
are khâle (mom’s sister), dâie (mom’s brother), amme (dad’s sister) and
amu (dad’s brother)? The teacher answers angrily: ‘Have you been reading
fictitious stories again?’ The billboard, while aiming at recommending
families to have more children for the sake of a better future, warns about
unpleasant consequences of population restriction program- the
elimination of family relations in the future- which is implicitly inferred
from the dialogue between the teacher and the schoolboy. The RESULT FOR
ACTION metonymy is the conceptual device applied to overstate the
consequences of family planning in long term. By virtue of the meaning