The narrative multimedia concept: an algorithm for the analysis (internet-memes about COVID-19)

Abstract

This research, done from the standpoint of linguistic concept-study and cognitive theory of naming, discusses the problems of meaning and its manifestations relevant for these two fields. The general conceptual space, constituted by the meanings of verbal and verbal-pictorial memes about COVID-19 (the data in Ukrainian and Russian) is considered as a narrative-based concept and structured via application of a particular methodology, which helps to build an ontology of this concept with its inherent thematic segments that have different degrees of accentuation. Internet-memes about COVID-19 are analyzed with regard to their content (integrated into the thematic segments of the narrative-based concept), and with regard to their form. It is maintained that the cognitive techniques for creating the memes' meanings include elaboration, extension, questioning and combining. The semiotic techniques that create the meme as a sign split into direct and indirect. The latter employ the inner form of a sign, its outer form, and the combination of both. The topic of creating the meme as a sign is extended with the discussion of hyperbole, paradox and absurdity as "laughter-evoking" techniques integrated into the meme's content. In focus, is the KORONAVIRUS narrative-based concept as the target entity with its particular interpretation and its specific ways of manifestation. A satellite topic is the KORONAVIRUS concept as a source utilized in characteristics of other entities.

Wacana Kritik Pandemi dalam Meme Instagram dan Pemanfaatannya sebagai Materi Ajar Membaca Kritis di Perguruan Tinggi

“…Kajian-kajian yang mengkaji meme yang berkaitan dengan pandemi Covid-19 pernah dilakukan oleh penelitian lain. Misal, mengkaji narasi politik bertema Covid-19 (de Saint Laurent et al, 2021), menganalisis penggunaan meme sebagai eksponen penanggulangan kolektif semasa Covid-19 di Puerto Rico (Ortiz et al, 2021), menyiasat penggunaan meme Instagram mengikut jantina pada Covid-19 menggunakan pendekatan analisis campuran (Al-Rawi et al, 2021), menganalisis wacana meme yang diduga terdapat humor di dalamnya (Souza & Passos, 2021), menganalisis kandungan yang menyeluruh tentang aspek linguistik meme sebagai propaganda politik (Leon & Ballesteros-Lintao, 2021), menganalisis meme di internet dengan tema Covid-19 (Zhabotynska, 2020). Berdasarkan kajian-kajian tersebut, masih belum ditemukan kajian yang menganalisis wacana dalam meme untuk kegiatan membaca kritis di perguruan tinggi.…”

Black Humour in a Fairy Tale: Verbalization of the Concept Death

“…Moreover, studies of modern linguoconceptology, as one of the branches of cognitive linguistics, are associated with the reconstruction of the concept by analysing its semiotic (primarily verbal) representations. In this respect, Zhabotynska (2020) introduces the algorithm for the analysis of a narrative multimedia concept, performed from the standpoint of linguistic concept-study and cognitive theory of naming. Likewise, the scientific work by Izyumtseva (2021) concerns contrastive research of conceptual metaphors of Biblical realia in two languages based on representing 'frames and slots' model.…”

The Selfish Rhetoric: Reddit memes and polarized identity during COVID-19

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, analysis of internet memes has shifted to the virtual rather than the textual. That is, while some scholars focus on textual elements characterizing a meme's narrative structure and specific interpretive practices (Zhabotynska, 2020), others suggest a virtual, multimodal discourse analysis that analyzes the intertextual and multivocal features affecting the meaning-making systems at play in memes (Dynel, 2020;Aslan, 2021). A virtual framework shifts analytical emphasis away from single artifacts and toward the modes of interaction memes provide to a particular discourse community.…”