‘LOL I DUNNO’: LINGUISTIC AND COGNITIVE MECHANISMS OF FORMING INTERNET-MEMES
Keywords:
internet communication, internet-meme, semiotic-linguistic approach, linguo-cognitive mechanisms, compression
Abstract
The article studies the phenomenon of the Internet-meme as the main structural unit of the modern media discourse, performing the functions of integration, translation, representation, information, as well as emotional and phatic functions. The main characteristics of the Internet meme as a media image, which has been considered for a long time as an Internet phenomenon of the game plan, aimed at achieving a comic effect, are analyzed. The paper applies a semiotic-linguistic approach to the analysis of forming Internet-memes, allowing to understand how any sign turns into a meme as well as narrows the object of the analysis to communication phenomena expressed through verbal and non-verbal means. The mechanism of compression is considered as a linguo-cognitive technique for creating Internet-memes. Firstly, the compression mechanism involves the simplification of the text of the meme and its surface structure according to the law of language economy, the requirements of the genre, and the characteristics of the information carrier, which leads to an increase in the information content of language units and the elimination of components that can be restored using the non-verbal part of the text without changing its informative side. That is why there is a frequent use of various kinds of elliptical structures in Internet memes. Secondly, compression allows reflecting colloquial language in Internet memes through the use of compressed units and constructions. At the same time, the mechanism of compression in Internet memes inevitably leads to an increasing role of background knowledge and initiates the process of inference, which is necessary for the recipient to understand the author’s implication.References
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15. Know Your Meme: Internet Meme Database. URL: http://knowyourmeme.com.
2. Davison, P.(2012). The Language of Internet Memes. In Social Media Reader. New York University Press. https://doi.org/10.18574/9780814763025-011
3. Dawkins, R. (2006) The Selfish Gene [Ebook V1.0]. London, UK. Oxford University Press.
4. Gorobcova, I. V., & Kiseljova, N. Ju. (2014). Rechevoj zhanr internet-mema v sovremennom anglojazychnom setevom prostranstve [Speech Genre of Internet meme in Modern English Media Discourse]. Sovremennye trendy razvitija sociogumanitarnogo znanija: sbornik, 140 - 151. (In Russian)
5. Holovach, O.A. (2011). Printsip ekonomii v lingvistike [Principles of Economy in Linguistics]. Vektor nauki, 3, 137-139. (In Russian)
6. Johnson, P. (2014, August 2). A brief history of animated GIF art, part one. Journal of Visual Culture, 13 (3). https://doi.org/10.1177/1470412914553365
7. Marchenko, N. G. (2013). Internet-mem kak hranilishhe kulturnyh kodov setevogo soobshhestva [Internet meme as a repository of cultural codes of the network community]. Kazanskaja nauka,1, 113-115. (In Russian)
8. Milner, R. (2012). The world made meme: Discourse and identity in participatory media. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. (Accession Order No. [3541828])
9. Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2011). New literacies. Berkshire, England; New York: Open University Press.
10. Rushkoff, D. (2010). Program or be programmed: Ten commands for a digital age (Kindle ed.) New York, NY: OR Books.
11. Shifman L. Memes in Digital Culture. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2014. 170 р.
12. Umerova M. V. (2011). Yazykovaia kompressiia: vidy i urovni realizatcii [Language Compression: kinds and levels of its realization]. Aktualnyye voprosy filologii I lingvistiki, 3, 56-63. (In Russian)
13. Veshniakova, A.V. (2016). Lingvokreativnyi aspekt internet-memov [Linguistic and creative aspect of internet memes]. Aktualnye problemy gumanitarnykh i estestvennykh nauk, 4. Retrieved from publikacia.net/archive/2016/6/4/9. (In Russian)
14. Woznick, L. (2013). Making memes. School Librarian’s Workshop, 34(1), 19-23. Retrieved from http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/89776411/making-memes
15. Know Your Meme: Internet Meme Database. URL: http://knowyourmeme.com.
Published
2022-05-02
How to Cite
Aksiutina, T. (2022). ‘LOL I DUNNO’: LINGUISTIC AND COGNITIVE MECHANISMS OF FORMING INTERNET-MEMES. Anglistics and Americanistics, 1(19), 4-14. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.15421/382201
Section
RELEVANT ISSUES OF LINGUISTICS
