TY - GEN

T1 - Meme as a speech genre of the internet-communication

AU - Prokofeva, Natalia A.

AU - Shcheglova, Ekaterina A.

N1 - Conference code: 12

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Abstract. The purpose of this research is the consideration of meme as a specific genre of the Internet-communication. A meme in our understanding is a small multicode text that unites an image and a brief message with contradictory meanings. The important features of memes, in our opinion, are reproducibility and precedence limited with the meme life. Visual and verbal components may be copied and changed both separately and together. The material includes the whole set of memes about Greta Thunberg having appeared in the net after her speech in the UNO. The analytical method corresponds with the research steps, taken to characterize the speech genre from some positions – conditions of meme’s birth and existence, genre model, communicative situation, multicodeness, stylistic features, intentionality, functionality. During the analysis of the mentioned material we distinguished the genre features of meme in each aspect. It is proved that conditions of meme’s appearance and development may be an event, which received an ambiguous evaluation in media, a bright image, able to produce an associative chain, a key word or expression with a logical contradiction. The meme’s genre model pre-supposes the situation which may be comically reconsidered, turned into an amazing game with the audience. Thus, the meme’s appearance itself is connected with ironic reconsideration of the reality. Meme appeared as the agenda reaction and appeals to the topical background knowledge of a communicator, correlating with the key vocabulary of the current moment. Multicode may be of various forms – image comments, collage, comics. Stylistically meme is characterized with unlimited word freedom, often similar to deliberate primitivity and rudeness of speech expression. The communicative purpose – an offer to laugh together, i.e. meme – is a genre with dominating idea to have fun. The laughter over an event leads to solidarity, refinement and grounding of connotatibe meanings of the epoch key words, incorporating the event into the world view of a contemporary man.

AB - Abstract. The purpose of this research is the consideration of meme as a specific genre of the Internet-communication. A meme in our understanding is a small multicode text that unites an image and a brief message with contradictory meanings. The important features of memes, in our opinion, are reproducibility and precedence limited with the meme life. Visual and verbal components may be copied and changed both separately and together. The material includes the whole set of memes about Greta Thunberg having appeared in the net after her speech in the UNO. The analytical method corresponds with the research steps, taken to characterize the speech genre from some positions – conditions of meme’s birth and existence, genre model, communicative situation, multicodeness, stylistic features, intentionality, functionality. During the analysis of the mentioned material we distinguished the genre features of meme in each aspect. It is proved that conditions of meme’s appearance and development may be an event, which received an ambiguous evaluation in media, a bright image, able to produce an associative chain, a key word or expression with a logical contradiction. The meme’s genre model pre-supposes the situation which may be comically reconsidered, turned into an amazing game with the audience. Thus, the meme’s appearance itself is connected with ironic reconsideration of the reality. Meme appeared as the agenda reaction and appeals to the topical background knowledge of a communicator, correlating with the key vocabulary of the current moment. Multicode may be of various forms – image comments, collage, comics. Stylistically meme is characterized with unlimited word freedom, often similar to deliberate primitivity and rudeness of speech expression. The communicative purpose – an offer to laugh together, i.e. meme – is a genre with dominating idea to have fun. The laughter over an event leads to solidarity, refinement and grounding of connotatibe meanings of the epoch key words, incorporating the event into the world view of a contemporary man.

KW - meme

KW - speech genre

KW - Internet communication

KW - key word

UR - http://science-ifl.rudn.ru/09835-2020-140-156/

M3 - Conference contribution

SP - 140

EP - 156

BT - CURRENT ISSUES IN MODERN LINGUISTICS AND HUMANITIES

A2 - Gervilla, Enrique F. Quero

A2 - Sokolova, Natalya

PB - Российский университет дружбы народов

CY - Moscow

Y2 - 27 March 2020 through 27 March 2020

ER -