Memes as ensemble of illocutionary acts

3.1 Framework

In 1955, John Austin proposed that utterances can function as actions rather than merely conveying information. He suggested that when someone speaks, they are not only stating something but also performing an act, such as making a commitment or offering an apology (Riley and Parker 2005). To explain this concept, Austin introduced a trichotomy to categorize speech acts into three types: locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts (Austin 1975). A locutionary act involves the physical production of sounds and words, focusing on the act of saying something. An illocutionary act refers to the function or purpose of the speech, such as asserting, questioning, or commanding. The perlocutionary act, on the other hand, encompasses the effects – both intended and unintended – of an utterance on the listener (Austin 1975; Evans 2016).

Building on Austin’s ideas, (Bach and Harnish, 1979) further elaborated on the trichotomy, while Searle (2002) placed particular emphasis on illocutionary acts. Searle argued that illocutionary acts could be classified into five broad categories: representatives, which convey information or describe reality; directives, which aim to influence the actions of others; commissives, which involve commitments to future actions; expressives, which express feelings or attitudes; and declarations, which bring about changes in the world through their very utterance (Searle 2002).

Austin’s earlier classification of illocutionary acts shares similarities with Searle’s framework but includes distinct categories. According to Austin, illocutionary acts could be divided into expositives, which involve acts such as stating, denying, or correcting; exercitives, which include warning, advising, or nominating; commissives, which entail promising, swearing, or planning; verdictives, which focus on acts of judgment such as ruling, valuing, or analyzing; and behabitives, which express social attitudes like apologizing, thanking, or welcoming (Schiffrin 2005).

The recognition of illocutionary acts is essential for successful communication, as it guides the addressee’s response. Schiffrin (2005) highlights that conversational expectations, whether implicit or explicit, play a crucial role in helping participants navigate interactions, facilitating appropriate responses, and identifying when communication breaks down.

Grundlingh (2018) asserts that memes can be understood as a form of speech act, aligning their possible functions with the communicative illocutionary acts identified by Bach and Harnish. Most of the functions of memes correspond to illocutionary acts, with many falling under the category of constative illocutionary acts. Grundlingh notes that fourteen of the fifteen subcategories of constatives align with different meme functions. Similarly, memes can be created to perform acts where the creator sincerely promises or offers to do something. Given the vast creative possibilities with memes, it is theoretically feasible to use memes to enact any illocutionary act identified by Bach and Harnish. However, Grundling’s study focuses exclusively on image macros and reaction shots, leaving a gap in exploring other meme formats.

In this context, the study seeks to answer two specific questions.

1. What are multiple illocutionary acts in political memes?

2. How are memes an ensemble of illocutionary acts?

3.2 Method and sampling

For the purposes of this study, only the textual content of memes was analyzed to identify the various illocutionary acts present. The memes were uploaded to NVivo, and their text was coded using categories adapted from Bach and Harnish (1979). This analysis addresses the first research question and provides a basis for discussing the second research question, which examines how memes can be considered as an ensemble of illocutionary acts.

The sampling strategy for this study is adapted from the approach outlined in the paper by (McLoughlin and Southern 2021). Following a similar strategy for sampling, this study selected Malayalam-language meme groups based on their popularity and user activity. The chosen groups included Troll Malayalam, Troll Kerala, International Chalu Union (ICU), and Troll Republic. These groups were selected not only for their traffic but also because they represented a mix of outspoken right-wing narratives and counter-narratives critiquing the BJP and Sangh Parivar. Memes were collected throughout the election period, from 26 February 2021 (the day the election was announced) to 5 April 2021 (the day before the election). A total corpus of over 2,000 memes was compiled, and from this dataset, memes with explicit references to the election were selected for analysis (N = 307). Of these, a subset of memes containing news screenshots was further narrowed down for detailed examination (N = 50). From the pool of 50 memes, 12 memes were purposively chosen to illustrate examples of specific illocutionary acts.

4.1 Illocutionary acts in memes

It has been observed that the major illocutionary acts found in memes include Descriptives, Retrodictives, Assertives, Questions, Informatives, Responsives, Requestives, Suggestives, Prohibitives, Predictives, Conformatives, Advisories, Dissentives, Disputatives, Assentives, and Apologies.

For Bach and Harnish (1979), descriptives involve actions such as appraising, assessing, calling, categorizing, characterizing, classifying, dating, describing, diagnosing, evaluating, grading, identifying, portraying, ranking, among others.

In the analyzed set of memes, descriptives were the most frequently observed illocutionary acts. Unlike memes from other contexts, memes from Kerala tend to directly reference acts of categorizing, characterizing, classifying, describing, and identifying characters within the meme.

In Figure 1A analyzed features the name “Sreedharanji,” where the identity is established through the accompanying text. Similarly, in Figure 1B, two descriptive acts categorize people in the meme: one as “UDF,” a prominent political alliance in Kerala, and the other as “public.” In Figure 1C, the text identifies a person as Vadakarayile Votermar (translating to “voters in Vadakara”).

Figure 1:

Memes with descriptives.

Such instances of descriptive acts were commonly observed in the set of memes analyzed. These included references to politicians such as E. Sreedharan, Rahul Gandhi, A.A. Rahim, Prathibha Hari, Mullappally Ramachandran, Oommen Chandy, Mohammed Riyas, Kunjammad Kutty, Pinarayi Vijayan, Narendra Modi, Rahna Fathima, and Rajnath Singh. Additionally, text in the memes was frequently used to categorize broader groups, such as “public,” “Malayalees,” or “voters.” An intriguing aspect of these memes is the integration of descriptive acts into the context of movie screenshots, often aligning the text with the character portrayed in the film.

Moore (1998) gives an informal definition of retrodictive that “describes some event that has been observed.” As the memes chosen for the study is “news reaction,” which has a news screen shot, the news content is classified in the study as retrodictive.

There were instances of retrodictives / reporting in the selected meme pool. There were news regarding campaigning, misogynic statements of politicians, candidature policy, and defection. Figure 2 shows an example of a meme with news screenshot. For this study, only memes with news screenshot were taken.

Figure 2:

News screenshot in meme.

Assertive acts are phrases employed to form in the addressee a specific idea, proposition, or belief (e.g., “Out for a while,” “We won the game!”). Figure 3 highlights news about a candidate who promises to cover a girl child’s educational expenses. The text on the meme reads, “Idehathe aanu aksharam thettate janasevakan ennu vilikkan pattuka,” which translates to “He can be called a politician beyond any doubt.” These are always reactions to a news screenshot, in other words, an assertion in response to a retrodictive claim.

Figure 3:

Example of assertive act in memes.

Speech acts containing questions are informally defined as those that seek information. A clear distinction exists between these and requisitives, where requests are framed as questions. Questions also appear in memes, where creators often respond to news events through interrogative statements. This can be illustrated through a case where meme creators responded to specific news coverage.

Figure 4 is a meme with a news item about a Congress leader expressing willingness to adjust with the LDF (Left Democratic Front) to defeat the BJP in the Manjeshwaram constituency. The responding meme incorporates three movie screenshots alongside images of two Congress party workers who were allegedly killed by Communist party members. The meme poses pointed questions: “Can we now take these pictures?” followed by “Which pictures?” - creating a stark juxtaposition between the proposed political alliance and past violence.

Figure 4:

Example of questions seen in memes.

Informatives also featured prominently in the analyzed memes. Informatives can be defined as statements that convey facts presumably unknown to the audience. Figure 5 incorporates a news screenshot reporting E Sreedharan’s claim that BJP has the potential to win 70 seats. This creates a scenario depicting a conversation between Sreedharan and a party worker, where he informs them about this possibility of securing 70 seats.

Responsives were another category of illocutionary acts observed in the meme pool. These are classified as replies, answers, or responses. Corresponding to the questions present in memes, there were also responsive elements, with 8 instances identified in the collective set of memes. For instance, Figure 5 demonstrates an example of Responsive.

Figure 5:

Example of informatives and responsives in memes.

The analyzed memes also contained requestatives. Requestatives include acts of asking, begging, beseeching, imploring, insisting, inviting, petitioning, pleading, praying, requesting, soliciting, summoning, supplicating, telling, and urging. These requestatives often emerged as responses to certain assertions within the memes. Six requestatives were identified in the meme set. Figure 6 features a news screenshot reporting the Election Commission’s order to remove Modi’s hoardings from petrol pumps. The meme responds by creating a fictional dialogue between Modi and the Election Commission, where Modi requests the implementation of this law, expressing concern about losing votes due to rising petrol prices. The translated text reads: “If they see my photo, my existing vote base will also go. So could you please ask to remove my photos?”

Figure 6:

Example of requestatives in memes.

Suggestives were observed in the memes selected for analysis. A suggestive is defined as a claim indicating there is reason to believe a particular fact. In the context of memes, suggestives are typically employed alongside scenario-based contexts. For example, in the referenced meme, a news screenshot criticizing the Communist party for selling seats is paired with a movie screenshot. This creates a scenario with a suggestive element implying “meanwhile Pinarayi in AKG centre Figure 7

Figure 7:

Example of suggestives in memes.

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Advisories are speech acts that advise hearers to take specific actions. In the context of election memes, advisories typically relate to voting behavior. Among the analyzed set of memes, only one instance of an advisory was observed.

Figure 8 features a news item about BJP leaders visiting the Cardinal. A comment attached to the meme reads, “Christians should be careful enough with their votes, if not you will have to face consequences.” This is followed by a movie screenshot with the text “Be careful when you are voting.”

Figure 8:

Example of advisories in memes.

The analyzed set of memes also contained two confirmatives, which are defined as statements telling someone something they already know. One example was the slogan “our dear leader” appearing in a meme, while the other confirmative act was the statement “My job is gone.”

Predictions and prohibitives were also observed in the meme set. Prohibitives focused on politicians preventing women from contesting elections, while predictives centered on forecasting the number of seats in the election. Additionally, single instances of apologies, assentives, disputatives, and dissentives were identified in the meme collection.

4.2 Memes as ensemble of illocutionary acts

The previous section explored multiple illocutionary acts present in the corpus of memes. This section demonstrates how memes function as an ensemble of illocutionary acts. The concept of ensemble derives from multimodality, where “multimodal ensemble” refers to representations or communications consisting of more than one mode, brought together deliberately to create collective and interrelated meaning. However, this paper uses “ensemble” in its basic sense: “a group of things taken together as a whole.”

I argue that memes are an ensemble of illocutionary acts. Grundling argued that memes could function as speech acts, stating that memes correspond to most of the communicative illocutionary acts identified by Bach and Harnish, as these functions are also illocutionary acts. While certain memes may have a single communicative purpose, political memes typically contain multiple illocutionary acts within a single meme. This analysis focuses specifically on the ensemble of illocutionary acts, rather than other modes like images or color, to identify how memes constitute an ensemble of illocutionary acts. This framework will help explain the memes used as examples in the previous section.

Figure 9 contains five illocutionary acts: retrodictives, descriptives, questions, descriptives, and a responsive. It begins with a news screenshot reporting UDF’s willingness to align with LDF to defeat BJP in Manjeshwaram. Following this is the text “UDF,” identifying the political alliance. The next element is a question, presented by a character representing UDF, asking “is it raining now?” The public responds that it must be the tears of Sharathlal and Kripesh.

Figure 9:

Retrodictives, descriptives, questions and responsive seen in a single meme.

Understanding such memes requires comprehending both the combination of illocutionary acts and their political context. Kripesh and Sharath Lal were two Youth Congress Leaders from Periya, Kasargod, who were murdered on February 17, 2019. Their deaths were politically motivated, resulting from clashes between CPI(M) and Congress workers. The victims were ambushed and killed while riding their motorcycles on Echiladukkam Road. The constituency mentioned, Manjeshwaram, is in the same district where these murders occurred. Thus, the news of Congress planning to ally with LDF is directly connected to these murders.

In this scenario, memes function as an ensemble of illocutionary acts, with the acts combining to create an overall meaning. Here, the meme in its entirety can be considered a dissentive as it expresses dissent against a political party’s stance.

Figure 10 contains three illocutionary acts: retrodictives in the news report, descriptives in the form of names, and apologies in the text. The meme begins with Rahul Gandhi’s statement that “people in LDF are my brothers.” To understand the meaning created by these illocutionary acts, both the political context and the popular movie screenshot must be interpreted.

Figure 10:

Assertives, descriptives and apologies in memes.

In Kerala, a Communist candidate opposes Congress locally, while both parties are allied at the national level. The meme incorporates a movie scene where a military officer visits a temple. According to Indian tradition, bursting crackers is a common part of cultural and religious celebrations. When the officer hears the crackers, his military instincts take over, and he commands everyone to take cover, mistaking the sounds for gunfire. Upon realizing his error, he apologizes, saying, “Sorry, I thought I was at the border.”

This scenario is adapted to Rahul Gandhi’s campaign in Kerala, where his statement about left-wing “brothers” contradicts local political reality. The dialogue is modified to “Sorry, I thought I was outside Kerala,” with the combination of illocutionary acts creating humor through this parallel.