PUTIN

SUPER

DJGENDER, NATIONALISM, AND

GLOBALIZATION IN MEMETIC

IMAGERY

JOHN CARTER MCKNIGHTDEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGYLANCASTER UNIVERSITYAALBORG UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER 2014

OUTLINE

VIRALITY AND MEMESPUTIN SUPER DJ: ICON OR PARODY?NATALIA SENPAI: GLOBAL REMEDIATIONPROPAGANDA PROSUMERISM: A NEW CIVIC MEDIUM?

CONCLUSIONS

VIRALITY AND MEMES:

“WHEREAS THE VIRAL COMPRISES ASINGLE CULTURAL UNIT…THAT PROPAGATES IN MANY COPIES,

AN INTERNET MEME IS ALWAYS A COLLECTION OF TEXTS.”

A GROUP OF DIGITAL ITEMS SHARING COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF CONTENT, FORM, OR STANCE

CREATED WITH AWARENESS OF EACH OTHERCIRCULATED, IMITATED, OR TRANSFORMED VIA INTERNET BY MANY USERS

“SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED PUBLIC DISCOURSES”Shifman, L. (2014) Memes in Digital Culture, MIT Press

“A NEW VERNACULAR THAT PERMEATES MANY SPHERES OF DIGITAL AND NON-DIGITAL EXPRESSION”

SOME MEMES ARE READILY UNDERSTANDABLE,

WHILE OTHERS REQUIRE EXTENSIVE LITERACY IN A RANGE OF CULTURAL VERNACULARS.

PUTIN SUPER DJ

STRAIGHT OR QUEERED?

NATALIA POKLONSKAYA- A STORY GOES VIRAL

- AND THEN MEMETIC

BUT AFTER DISPLAYING THE DEPOLITICIZATION EXPECTED OF MEMETIC IMAGERY -

- THE MEME IS REPURPOSED AND RE-POLITICIZED IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT

“COMPARE AND CONTRAST” A THEME IN PRO-RUSSIAN USAGE

AS WE SEE WITH PUTINAS WELL:

MEDIA SCHOLARSHIP SEES “DEPOLITICIZATION” AS A NATURAL OUTCOME OF MEMES’ RELIANCE ON A POP-CULTURE VOCABULARY -

YET BOTH THE PUTIN AND POKLONSKAYA MEMES SUGGEST THAT

DEPOLITICIZATION MAY LEAD TO A VIRALITY THAT IN TURN ENABLES GREATER WEIGHT AND SPREAD TO PROPAGANDA USES

PROPAGANDA PROSUMERISM:A NEW CIVIC MEDIUM?

POLITICIANS AS CELEBRITIES + CULTURAL/GEOGRAPHIC CLASH OF VALUES +MEMES AS CIVIC DISCOURSE +ASTROTURFING

DISTINCT VISUAL RHETORICS FOR RUSSIA/WEST

RUSSIAN DOMESTIC IS HEAVY-HANDED, BUT DEFT FOR WESTERN CONSUMPTION

RUSSIAN STRESS ON COMPARISON FOR BOTH AUDIENCES

DEGREE OF MEDIA LITERACY MAY BE KEYALSO SEEN IN SCOTLAND’S #INDYREF

BLURRING OF ATTRIBUTION TO STATE/NON-STATE ACTORS

“INTERNET MEMES ASSUME A NEW ROLE IN DELIBERATIVE PROCESSES, PROVIDING A POLYVOCAL ‘MEETING SPACE’ BETWEEN OPPOSING CAMPS”

SHIFMAN, L. (2014) MEMES IN DIGITAL CULTURE, MIT PRESS

CONCLUSIONS

“DIGITAL CITIZENS WHO ARE MORE INTERESTED IN COMBINING POPULAR-CULTURE PURSUITS WITH POLITICAL CONVERSATION…

“OUR COLLECTIVE DEFINITIONS OF CITIZENSHIP FREQUENTLY DISCOUNT THESE USES OF TECHNOLOGY AS TOO FRIVOLOUS TO BE TRULY CIVIC.”

PAPACHARISSISI, Z. (2010) A PRIVATE SPHERE

SIGNIFICANT POLITICAL DISCOURSE TAKES PLACE VIA MEMES – REQUIRING A RANGE OF VISUAL AND POP-CULTURAL LITERACIES

NEW MEDIA TOOLS ENABLE BLURRING OF PROFESSIONAL/CONSUMER ROLESIN IDEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE

(“PROPAGANDA PROSUMERISM”)

THANK YOU!

J.MCKNIGHT@LANCASTER.AC.UK

JOHNCARTERMCKNIGHT.COMLANCASTER.ACADEMIA.EDU/JOHNCARTERMCKNIGHT

@JOHN_CARTER