Between Humour and Public Commentary: Digital Re-appropriation of the Soviet Propaganda Posters as Internet Memes

Abstract

Over the last two decades, Russian Internet accumulated a range of images originating from the Soviet epoch, including everything from official portraits of Soviet leaders to representations of Soviet greeting cards and postage stamps. While some of those digitised items remain intact, others become a part of different creative practices inherent to online environment, such as photo manipulating, remixing, recombining and merging with elements attributing to other historical or national contexts. The current article investigates one instance of creative re-appropriation of the Soviet visual legacy on the Internet: construction of digital memes from the former Soviet propaganda posters. Upon focusing on three iconic posters, namely Did you Volunteer? (1920), Do not Talk! (1941) and Motherland is Calling! (1941), this study examines how the propaganda images have been transformed by contemporary Russian users into ‘templates’ for meme-making. Furthermore, the article identifies two particular functions of memes based on the Soviet propaganda posters: first, as a form of a peculiar humour, known in Russian tradition as stiob and, second, as an instrument for voicing of public opinion, through which users comment on urgent political and social issues. The article concludes that the remakes of Soviet propaganda images do not fall within any hitherto discovered category of humorous, political or historical memes, and therefore, they should be considered as a separate case in contemporary production of memes.

Creative Self-efficacy, Political Decision-making, and Offline and Online Political Participation

“…According to Kligler-Vilenchik and Literat (2018), ‘[c]reativity can serve as a powerful outlet for political expression’ (p. 76). For example, as instruments of humour, political memes can be used to reinterpret or challenge official narratives or histories and express dissatisfaction or distrust of political leaders (Gambarato & Komesu, 2018; Kalkina, 2020).…”

“…The global ascendance of social media has given rise to a range of digital forms of creative expression and political activities (Jenkins et al, 2016). These acts have tapped into popular culture, harnessed humour and/or used playful imagery (e.g., Gambarato & Komesu, 2018; Kalkina, 2020). For example, in Brazil, former President Dilma Rousseff’s use of a trendy gesture used to express a sense of togetherness became the focus of countless memes mocking her presidency (Gambarato & Komesu, 2018).…”

İslamofobik Nefret Söylemi Aracı Olarak "Mem"ler

“…DeCook (2018) çalışmasında Proud Boys (Gururlu Çocuklar) adı verilen aşırı sağcı grubun, sosyal medya platformu olan Instagram üzerinden memler aracılığıyla performatif ve dilsel pratiklerle gençlere yönelik aşırı sağ söylemin propagandasının yapıldığını ve memlerin ortaya çıkardığı sosyalleşme ortamı ve bir gruba aidiyet hissinin, aşırı sağa taraftar kazandırmak amacıyla kullanıldığını belirmektedir. Kalkina (2020) Sovyet Dönemi'nin ikonik propaganda afişlerinin günümüzde Rus kullanıcılar tarafından mem yapımı için 'kalıplara' dönüştürüldüğünü ve propaganda aracı olarak kullanıldıklarını belirmektedir. Dolayısıyla yaşadığımız çağda memlerin, insanların aradığı mizah ihtiyacına cevap verirken ideolojik bir aktarım aracı olarak da sıklıkla kullanıldığı ve aşırı sağın fikirlerini yaymasına hizmet ettiği görülmektedir.…”

The humour factor

“…Their sources were Nazi Germany and the Middle Ages presented with contemporary highly appealing aesthetics to the supporters of neo-Nazism and other far right variants. Other researchers have analyzed memes to study Russian and Ukrainian nationalist narratives (Pavlyuk 2019), as well as the memory of the Second World War of the former USSR and its role in building national identity (Kalkina 2020;Makhortykh 2015). The study hereinafter is related to those of the authors mentioned, in the sense that it shows the purpose of memes in a complex political context, when there is a need to resolve a topic linked to the memory of an anti-democratic past in the current political reality.…”