Analysis of Baby-Boom Promoting Billboards in Iran
287themselves as to whether they can afford to raise more children. The word
ruzi in Persian means a certain amount of money enough to meet one’s
daily expenses. The first clause of the sentence acts to guarantee the
survival of the newborns, and the second clause functions to warn Iranians
of the threat of sticking to two-child policy by overstating the outcomes of
family planning, which he predicts to result in the extinction of Iran and
Iranian identity. Simultaneous encouragement (guaranteeing divine support)
and warning (the threat of the extinction of Iranian identity) through
religious and patriotic notions may bring about a powerful rhetoric to
persuade those who, to a large extent, rely on divine support throughout
their lives.
The ex-president puts the idea forward that large families provide the
ground for developing talents and achieving academic excellence:
(12) shoar e do bache kafist formul e engheraz e yek mellat ast na baghaye an.
Besyari az nokhbegan va daneshmandan az khanevadehaye porjamiat bude va
hamin amr mojeb e roshd e anha shod east. Zamani ke khanevadei shesh
farzand darad baese kalanjar raftan e anha va roshd e
estedadhayeshanmishavad (www.khabaronline.ir 27/07/2010).
‘The slogan ‘two children are enough’ is the formula for extinguishing a nation
and not for preserving it. Many of the genii and scientists come from crowded
families and that has caused their progress. Having six children in a family
makes children interact and develop their talents.’The novelty of Ahmadinejad’s opinion lies in its contrast to the
seemingly common belief in Iranian society that holding a small family
increases the opportunities for children to have access to high-quality
education (www.associatedpress.com 06/01/2014). Under this view, both
parts of his remarks (negative consequences of family planning and positive
consequences of having a large family) may be seen as overstatement.
The final statement of Ahmadinejad analyzed here relies on informal
clichés in a formal context apparently to ridicule the position family
planning supporters take on the issue:
(13) Barkhi goman mikonand jamiat mesle nokhod o lubiast ke agar tamam
shod mitavan anra kharid ya az kharej avard, dar hali ke manand e harekat e
yek nafar ast ke dar dorehaye mokhtalef e javani, miansali va piri karhaye
motefaveti mitavanad anjam dahad (www.isna.ir, 23/04/2013).
‘Some people presume that population is like peas and beans that if we run out
of, we can buy or import, whereas it [population] is like the movement of a
person who can do different things in his young, middle and old ages.’