Pro-Ukrainian Memes Against 2022 Russian Invasion A Cognitive Linguistics Perspective

Abstract

In relation to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, memes and Internet jokes have a special status. They work as stress-relievers, information vessels, or Russian propaganda resistance. The effectiveness of a meme relies on mingling verbal and visual elements in such a way that seemingly unrelated scenarios become relatable and can be interpreted in a given context. The text aims at discussing the cognitive mechanisms employed in chosen pro-Ukrainian memes against the 2022 Russian invasion in terms of their bimodal construal. An analysis of a group of memes was conducted within the cognitive linguistics framework, with reference to the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, conceptual integration theory (Fauconnier & Turner, 2002), and construal (Langacker, 2008(Langacker, , 2019. The creation of memes triggers frameshifting and convergence of different mental spaces, which results in online meaning construction, where humorous incongruity derives directly from blending and shows how jokes (about tragedies) may become humorous, due to frame substitution.