Battle of Narratives: Political Memes During the 2019 Ukrainian Presidential Election

Abstract

Battle of Narratives: Political Memes During the 2019 Ukrainian Presidential ElectionThe article highlights the peculiarities of political internet memes as information units that shape public opinion. The article also examines the role of memes in society. The research material includes creolized memes (including both verbal and visual elements) about the Ukrainian politicians Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskyi. These memes were created in 2019 during the Ukrainian presidential election. The article firstly focuses on the verbal aspects of the memes and their semantic and functional features. In addition, the peculiarities of opponent image construction are analysed. The article then examines the influence of Ukrainian politicians on the conduct of the “meme war”. The article also sheds light on the role which memes play in the polarization of society. Wojna narratywów: memy polityczne podczas wyborów prezydenckich na Ukrainie w 2019 rokuArtykuł przedstawia cechy politycznych memów internetowych jako jednostek informacji wpływających na świadomość ludzi, a także wyjaśnia ich rolę w społeczeństwie. Materiałem badań były kreolizowane memy (obecność elementów słownych i ikonicznych) o Piotrze Poroszence i Włodzimierzu Zełenskim, wygenerowane podczas kampanii prezydenckiej na Ukrainie w 2019 roku. Główny nacisk położono na werbalny aspekt memu, jego cechy semantyczne i funkcjonalne, przeanalizowano specyfikę konstruowania wizerunku przeciwnika, podkreślono znaczenie ukraińskich polityków w prowadzeniu „wojny memetycznej” oraz wyjaśniono rolę memów w polaryzowaniu społeczeństwa.

From Polarization to Hate: Portrait of the Spanish Political Meme

“…In short, there is a link between the different elements that characterize political memes and their objectives. Moreover, memes assume a generalized anti-civic role regardless of the ideology, which tends to accentuate the confrontation between the various ideological beliefs, as in other countries (Gruzd & Roy, 2014;Jiang et al, 2020;Pidkuimukha & Kiss, 2020). The growing danger of polarization in US social networks (Penney, 2020, p. 804) is a reality in Spain, where there is evidence of a clear intention of political persuasion with the same strategies used during electoral campaigns (Zamora-Medina et al, 2021, p. 19), but with a significant presence of hostile emotions (Ihlebaek & Holter, 2021), especially rage.…”

A comparative linguistic analysis of internet memes in English, Polish and Ukrainian: specifics, functions and language means

“…In Ukrainian humanitarian studies, memes are analyzed from several perspectives. First, a meme is seen as a tool of information warfare, a source of disinformation, which is effective due to its pace, ease, and nonauthorship (Pidkuĭmukha, Kiss, 2020). Memes are studied as mass media content representing the realities of the Russian-Ukrainian war (Ivanova et al, 2022).…”

Heroes or Villains? Memetic Communication of Politics in Poland in Times of COVID-19 Crisis

“…The political memes analyzed in this article are intended to reflect attitudes toward politicians and events, and to activate young voters (Pidkuimukha & Kiss, 2020), for whom the Internet is the main source of information on politics and reality. By creating and sharing memes, users can make their contribution to cultural changes through online platforms.…”