The experience of iconological interpretation of Internet memes (based on the material of "quarantines" from the collection of social cartoons of the Center for Social and Political History of the State Public Historical Library)

Abstract

The object of the research is Internet memes as a product of modern mass culture and art. The subject of the study is the iconological interpretation of an Internet meme as an art object. Internet memes dedicated to the lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic - "quarantine" from the collection of social cartoons of the Center for Socio-Political History of the State Public Historical Library, which was collected during the lockdown of 2020, and also relevant Internet materials were selected for interpretation. The purpose of the article is to conduct an iconological interpretation of selected Internet memes from the collection of social cartoons of the Center for Socio–Political History of the State Public Historical Library. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time an Internet meme was considered as an art object, and the possibilities of iconological interpretation of this phenomenon of modern culture and art were investigated using the example of several "quarantine" sites. The article shows that the construction of "quarantines" went both along the path of creating new memes and by transforming old memes based on recontextualization – using well-known plots, images, heroes to discuss new realities. The iconological interpretation of the "quarantines" made it possible to identify the features of the reflection of the pandemic in the public consciousness (the feeling of the "inversion" of the world, the catastrophic nature of changes, new security conditions) and to deepen knowledge about the nature of artistic self-help of society in conditions of social extremum (the use of the healing effects of the tragicomic).