engleski

Pandemic Humour on the Web

The therapeutic effect of humour has been especially prominent in numerous online memes that thematise the pandemics and the changes in the everyday lives of people around the world. The research part of the paper analyses a corpus of internet memes thematising COVID-19, which appear in the form of images without text or images accompanied by text. Memes are approached from a pragmatic point of view and the key question is answered of whether every meme is a performative – because in addition to a humorous overtone, internet memes are often an expression of parody, irony and critique of the new events and circumstances. The analysis of the context, i.e. the knowledge and experience that the recipients have and share with the sender of the message, leads to the conclusion that the common, global experience with COVID-19 ensures that memes and their message are understood on a supranational level. One of the aims of the paper is therefore to analyse the context as a basis for the emergence of (pandemic) memes. There are two key bases: first, everyday life, i.e. the pandemic as a starting point, in which other everyday situations are embedded – work, schooling, shopping, dressing, politics ; second, the intertextual and intermedial basis, on which two backgrounds are distinguished: a) the influence of popular culture (films, computer games, celebrities from the entertainment industry, etc.) and b) the influence of tradition (literature, history, art…). The analysis will also include various forms of memes and (in)dependence of image and text.

humour ; irony ; memes

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