The dirt and dust of poetic insult

"The nation's huge river would not leave any opportunity

for the expression of dirt and dust"

In a nation where poetry is a venerable and much-loved form of expression, it was no suprise that the defensive Ahmadinejad would produce a stanza of note. But the bitter poet then let his guard slip by accusing his opponents of "officially recognising thieves, homosexuals and scumbags" in exchange for their vote. Poetry evaporates, ephemeral in the mind of a bigot.

Iranians chose to ignore Ahmadinejad's baser insults to appropriate instead his poetic slur, "dirt and dust." The label has returned as a slogan to haunt the errant poet-bigot. It is now the rallying cry of protesters, who wear and chant the term with a potent mix of anger and pride. "Dirt and dust is you who are the enemy of Iran" is one chant heard on the streets, and the reformist newspaper Etemad-e Melli carried a picture of a huge banner carried by protesters:

EPIC OF DIRT AND DUST

The supreme leader is due to address the nation at Friday prayers this morning. As a man renowned for his love of poetry, it will be fascinating to see how he responds to this epic poetic struggle.

Good Iranians and bad Iranians? It's not that simple Ali.

In an earlier blog, I noted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's branding of protesters as "tension seekers". Well, new day, new label. They are now tension-seeking "vandals". Indeed the wise leader tells us that vandalizing public property is not even related to the presidential election:

"Such acts and vandalism and some crimes that were committed are not related to the candidates' supporters but to disturbers of peace and all should stand against them."

These are the 'bad' Iranians, and (unspoken) 'good' Iranians are urged to "stand against them" - code for what exactly?Now compare the Ayatollah's description of those charged with supervising the elections, not quite so black and white this time:

"Those in charge of supervising the elections are always trustworthy people, but this should not prevent an investigation into possible problems and clarifying the truth."

Forgive me, but isn't it disingenuous to suggest their possible failings are little more than natural consequences of their trustworthiness? Where did the cold, hard religious certainty of the earlier pronouncement disappear to in this description? But he has spoken, and therefore - he hopes - it shall be so. http://www.presstv.ir/detail/98279.htm?sectionid=351020101

Ayatollah's gift of the gab

As reported in today's Guardian newspaper and other media, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last night dismissed protests as the work of "tension seekers". He has produced a pretty nifty and memorable phrase here, no mean feat in the age of the media soundbite. If he was seeking attention, it worked. But what was he signalling with this labelling; will things deteriorate to the point where a religious edict will materialise?

Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islamism