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Iman
Safaei
Language
is
the
society’s
memory
and
the
image
of
any
society’s
memory
is
reflected
in
its
language. Spoken
words
or
street
talk
is
considered
an
important
aspect
of
popular
knowledge,
containing
a
wide
range
of
lyrics,
riddles,
tales,
satires,
popular
sayings
and
proverbs.
Parable
is a
short
sentence,
popular
and
occasionally
rhythmic
which
consists
of
similes,
metaphors
or
sarcasms
that
because
of
its
lucidity,
clarity
in
meaning,
simplicity,
inclusion
and
totality
has
become
popular
amongst
people
and
is
commonly
used
in
its
original
or
altered
forms.
Parables
are
the
mirrors
of
culture,
social
norms,
opinions,
lifestyles,
attitudes,
relationships,
civilization,
behavior,
and
stand
as a
criterion
of
the
nations’
passions.
Parables
don’t
have
a
unique
narrator
and
people
of
all
ways
of
life
have
shaped
and
polished
them
through
history.
There
are
at
least
over
one
hundred
thousand
Iranian
parables,
suggestive
of
the
opulent
mentality
that
Iranians
possessed
and
still
do. More
than
written
literature,
prose
and
poetry,
they
are
the
manifestation
of
social
thought. They
have
grown
from
within
the
society
and
have
travelled
mouth
to
mouth
in
order
to
reach
us.
On
the
verge
of
the
constitutional
revolution,
a
new
language,
inspired
by
street
talk
came
to
life
by
Ali
Akbar
Dehkhoda .
His
satirical
writings,
titled
Gibberish
(Charand-o-Parand)
were
printed
in
Sur-Esrafil newspaper
under
the
pseudonym
Dakho
and
contained
popular
slangs
and
proverbs. Jamalzadeh followed
in
Dehkhoda’s
footsteps
but
Sadegh
Hedayat mastered
the
style
and
used
this
smooth,
simple
and
honest
prose
in
his
stories
so
successfully
that
he
is
considered
the
founder
of
Modern
Fiction
in
Iran. The
usage
of
proverbs
in
Hedayat’s
stories
through
the
dialogues
of
his
characters
is
well
practiced. He
published
a
book
Neyrangestan,
exemplifying
mass
culture,
folkloric
beliefs
and
superstitions
of
his
characters.
It’s
noteworthy
that
Ahmad
Shamlou left
behind
Ketab-e
Kouceh
(The
Book
of
Alley) ,
a
collection
of
expressions
and
idioms,
interpretations
and
proverbs
which
he
gathered
with
tremendous
difficulty
in a
period
of
30
years
with
the
help
of
his
wife,
Ayda.
“Popular
Culture”
consists
of a
wide
collection
of
parables,
satires,
and
bumper
stickers
(Dude,
slow
down
for
God’s
sake/ For
the
love
of
Mike,
step
on
it) ,
peddlers’
lingo
(SALE,
SALE,
SALE,
Hurry
up,
the
last
sale
of
the
season/
Two
for
five)
,
curses
(I
curse
the
day
you
were
born/
Wish
you
rot
in
hell),
dance
attending
and
kiss
ass
comments
(I’ll
die
for
you/ my
sweet
pumpkin/ honey
bunny
),
spoken
games
such
as
tongue
twisters
(She
sells
seashells
by
the
seashore),
brags
(yeah
right/
my
ass/
bullshit),
threats
(Gonna
kill
you/
Angry
grizzly
bears
are
gonna
look
tame
next
to
what
is
waiting
for
you
),
games
and
songs
(Along
came
Mr.
Alligator
quite
as
can
be
and
snapped
that
monkey
out
that
tree
…).
Alongside
the
defined
language
of
society,
there
are
groups
containing
jailbirds,
scandalous
individuals
and
addicts
that
in
order
to
cover
their
beliefs
and
secrets,
ignore
the
rules
and
regulations
of
society
and
create
a
language
of
their
own,
called
a
“secret
language”
which
eventually
finds
its
way
to
the
everyday
language
of
youngsters. Examples
of
such
terms
include:
BBC
(spy,
tattletale,
snitch),
Smack
(Heroin),
Stoned
(dizzy
and
high),
Dope
(Hashish),
Pest
(Pain
in
the
neck,
pushy,
pebble
in
the
shoe).
Wrapping
up
such
broad
topic
here
in
these
few
lines
is
only
“scratching
the
surface.”
Farhang
Ghorbani
–
November
–
2014
Translated
by Orkideh
Daroodi
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