John Benjamins Publishing Company
Memes and the media narrative
Abstract
This article presents the results of a critical discourse analysis of internet memes. This analysis considers the highly visual nature of internet memes situated in a context of meme-as-utterance prompting other remixed versions as memes-as-responses. Prior to the analysis an orientation to pragmatics as related to internet memes is presented. Following this is an overview of memes research and a necessary discussion of the role of media narratives in the construction and dissemination of internet memes. Finally, a series of memes tweeted in response to Nike’s inclusion of former National Football League player, Colin Kaepernick, in its Just Do It anniversary campaign, serves as the corpus of analysis.
Abstract
This article presents the results of a critical discourse analysis of internet memes. This analysis considers the highly visual nature of internet memes situated in a context of meme-as-utterance prompting other remixed versions as memes-as-responses. Prior to the analysis an orientation to pragmatics as related to internet memes is presented. Following this is an overview of memes research and a necessary discussion of the role of media narratives in the construction and dissemination of internet memes. Finally, a series of memes tweeted in response to Nike’s inclusion of former National Football League player, Colin Kaepernick, in its Just Do It anniversary campaign, serves as the corpus of analysis.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Internet memes we live by (and die by) 7
- Stylistic humor across modalities 36
- Memes and the media narrative 64
- On the interaction of core and emergent common ground in Internet memes 85
- Exploring local meaning-making resources 122
- Internet memes as multilayered re‑contextualization vehicles in lay-political online discourse 145
- Index 182
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Internet memes we live by (and die by) 7
- Stylistic humor across modalities 36
- Memes and the media narrative 64
- On the interaction of core and emergent common ground in Internet memes 85
- Exploring local meaning-making resources 122
- Internet memes as multilayered re‑contextualization vehicles in lay-political online discourse 145
- Index 182
