Internet Memes as a Current Phenomenon of Political Internet Communication in Germany: Grand Coalition Thematic Group
https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2022-11-4-239-257
Abstract
The object of the research is Internet memes that constitute the thematic group “Grand Coalition” and appeared during the reign of the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany 2018–2021. Internet memes selected under the given denotative and temporal features are analyzed in dynamics within N. A. Zinoviev’s typology, based on a set of dichotomies (“truth — lie”, “character — event”, “tradition — innovation”, “background — figure”, “image — text”, “thought — action”). A conclusion is made about the field organization of the Internet meme structure. This structure includes the remaining constant kernel formed by the visual template and the generalized meaning of the Internet meme. It is shown that the specificity of the functioning of the precedent phenomenon as part of Internet memes lies in its transformation through the distribution or replacement of elements and subsequent reinterpretation. The very development of the Internet meme, its successful promotion online supposes the decontextualization of the primary meme and its further recontextualization in new communicative situations. The precedent phenomena involved are most often the conductors of negative meanings. The following signs of the grand coalition are regularly reflected in Internet memes — incapacity, mistrust on the part of citizens, and a bad reputation of its members.
Keywords
political internet memes,
grand coalition,
recontextualization,
dichotomy,
verbal and non-verbal components
Supporting agencies: The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-012-00193
About the Author
L. N. Rebrina
Volgograd State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Larisa N. Rebrina - ResearcherID: G-6420-2015, Scopus Author ID: 56241972800, Doctor of Philology, Leading Researcher.
Volgograd
References
1. Axelrod, E. (2016). The Role of Memes in Politics. Brown Political Review. 20.03.2016. Available at: https://brownpoliticalreview.org/2016/03/role-memespolitics/ (ac-cessed 11.04.2021).
2. Babikova, M. R. (2019). Variety of genres regarding the Internet Memes in Modern Nation-alistic Discourse. Izvestia. Ural Federal University Journal. Series 1, Issues in Education, Science and Culture, 25 / 2(186): 67—73. (In Russ.).
3. Chmielewski, D. (2016). Internet memes emerge as 2016 election’s political dog whistle. USA TODAY. 30.09.2016. Available at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/09/30/internet-memes-white-house-election-president/91272490/ (accessed: 10.04.2021).
4. Dackevich, I. (2012). The phenomenon of mass culture. Moscow: Institute of Scientific In-formation for Social Sciences of RAS. (In Russ.).
5. Díaz, C., Mauricio, C. (2013). Defining and characterizing the concept of Internet Meme. CES Psicología, 6(2): 82—104.
6. Glukhikh, V. A., Eliseev, S. M. (2017). Internet memes, social networks, public policy, elec-toral processes, information society. Discourse, 4: 90—96. (In Russ.).
7. Gromovaya, M. I. (2015). Internet meme as a lingual culturheme of modern linguistic analy-sis. Mova, 23: 27—31. (In Russ.).
8. Hartmann, F. (2017). Meme: Die Kunst des Remix. Berlin: Amadeo Antonio Stiftung. 33 S. (In Germ.).
9. Kanashina, S. V. (2018a). Internet meme and precedent phenomenоn. TSPU Bulletin, 4 (193): 122—126. (In Russ.).
10. Kanashina, S. V. (2018b). The role of internet memes in political elections. Political linguistics, 1 (67): 67—72. (In Russ.).
11. Karyagin, M. (2017). Meme politics. Actual comments. 12.05.2017. Available at: actual-comment.ru/memnaya-politika-1705121050.html (accessed 10.04.2021). (In Russ.).
12. Kvyat, A. (2013). Media Meme as a Tool of Political PR: a Cognitive Approach. Mediascop, 1: 3 (In Russ.).
13. Miltner, K. M. (2014). There’s no place for lulz on LOLCats: The role of genre, gender, and group identity in the interpretation and enjoyment of an Internet meme. First Mon-day, 19(8): 21—43.
14. Nikitina, O. A., Gudkova, O. A., Zander, F. (2018). Internet meme as a multimodal phenom-enon of the german internet-Discourse. Language and Culture, 43: 74—87. (In Russ.).
15. Osterroth, A. (2015). Das Internet-Meme als Sprache-Bild-Text. IMAGE, 22: 26—46. (In Germ.).
16. Rushkoff, D. (2003). Media Virus! Hidden agendas in popular culture. Moscow : Ultra-culture. 363 p. (In Russ.).
17. Savickaya, T. E. (2013). Internet memes as a phenomenon of popular culture. Culture in the modern world, 3: 3. (In Russ.).
18. Shchurina, Yu. V. (2012). Internet Meme as a Phenomenon of Internet Communication. Nauchnyi dialog, 3: 160—172. (In Russ.).
19. Shomova, S. A. (2019). To entertain and dominate: images of russian power and opposition in internet memes. Moscow University Bulletin. Series 10. Journalism, 3: 23—24. (In Russ.).
20. Veshnyakova, A. V. (2016). The linguistic and creative aspect of Internet memes. Actual problems of the humanities and natural sciences, 6(4): 34—40. (In Russ.).
21. Zinovyeva, N. A. (2015). The Impact of Memes on Internet Users: A Typology of Internet Memes. Bulletin of Economics, Law and Sociology, 1: 195—201. (In Russ.).
Review
For citations:
Rebrina L.N. Internet Memes as a Current Phenomenon of Political Internet Communication in Germany: Grand Coalition Thematic Group. Nauchnyi dialog. 2022;11(4):239-257. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2022-11-4-239-257
Views:
645
Email this article 