Memes, Language, and Identity During the Russo-Ukrainian War

Abstract

Russia’s war on Ukraine has impacted many spheres of life, including the creation and consumption of social media. Since the war is taking place not only on the battlefield, but also in online spaces, Internet users can see events in real time and react to them. This thesis examines the ways people engage in digital participatory culture during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. Specifically, the first chapter of this thesis investigates the memes—units of cultural transmission according to Richard Dawkins (249)—that appeared within the period from February to September of 2022. While highlighting the features of what Anastasia Denisova terms “carnivalesque resistance memes,” the first chapter analyzes the memes that satirize autocratic leaders and Russian State narratives of the war. Eventually, some memes become highly recognizable and accessible, which provides an opportunity for meme commodification in physical objects, such as banners, stamps, merchandise, and even weapons. The second chapter examines the coverage of Vladimir Putin’s announcement of the full-scale invasion by selected Russian Telegram channels, whose political vector ranges from pro-government to oppositional. In its analysis of news coverage, Chapter Two relies on the methodology by Teun van Dijk’s News as Discourse (1988) to discuss cultural schemata and media bias in news coverage. In summary, the two chapters present different, albeit complementary, perspectives on how users respond to, or are influenced by, popular social media networks in the context of war. Both chapters consider the exchange between media-producers and media-consumers, as these two spheres attempt to influence, shape, and reconstitute narratives of war and resistance. In the case of memes, influence is generated from the bottom-up, as meme-makers playfully resist totalitarian messages. By way of contrast, the Telegram channels are top-down in the creation of war coverage; however, media consumers also demonstrate engagement—albeit somewhat limited—with Telegram channels. Careful consideration of Telegram channels’ engagement with news coverage of the war in Ukraine allows for a nuanced reading of the manipulation strategies the media employs to influence its audience. Furthermore, both chapters also examine the ways social media interacts with the audience and therefore encourages participatory culture. Ultimately, the analysis illustrates how the audience and channels, whether in the form of memes or Telegram posts, plays a significant role in determining perceptions of Russia’s war on Ukraine among the population of both countries. Additionally, this thesis highlights the techniques applied by the media in news coverage to influence its audience.