Memeing

As stated in the readings, memes are aspects of culture/pieces on information/ideas etc. passed from one person to the next. Without the writing, most memes would just be photos of random things that don’t have any real meaning and don’t really pass information on to the next person. The writing in memes is generally very compact but is explicit in their messages. This is why, as mentioned by Duong, memes can easily become propaganda, as they are accessible to wide audiences and the true meaning sneaks up on you. As mentioned by Huntington, “subversive communication responds to dominant communication structures in unexpected ways,” meaning our current culture responds to the dominant structures fixed in place by using memes to subvert reigning ideologies. Without the writing aspect of memes, this would be lost, as they appropriate and transform cultural texts according to Huntington. 

Visual rhetoric is also a key factor in meme making, considering memes are visual texts that construct meaning through both their words and visuals. As said in the article by Duong, if one merely sees the meme, the work is done. This is because the visual nature of memes makes it to where viewers are impacted upon first sight. Huntington talks about how rhetoric relies on devices like metaphors, and he discusses the way in which iconic images can become a type of metaphor themselves, meaning the images themselves, once they’ve become instantly recognizable, become metaphors, and consequently rhetorical by themselves. This means both the text and visuals of memes function as rhetorical devices, which helps explain why they are so popular in spreading beliefs and information, as well as uniting certain groups of people.

In my opinion, memes unite people, bring solidarity and comfort, sometimes spread information (or misinformation), and in general, they just reflect both the dominant culture and subculture, as there are memes for every possible type of person out there. They are definitely far more complicated than just a photo with text overlaying it. Without a doubt, they reflect culture and are often used as propaganda. 

What meme subculture are you in? Favorite types of memes?

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