رسائل ماجيستير
English
2022
A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF INTERNET POLITICAL COMIC MEMES
أحمد صاحب جابر مبارك, دعاء عايد عبد الحمزة
كلية التربية للعلوم الإنسانية-جامعة بابل · العراق
This study aims to investigate how meaning is created in internet political comic memes by the combination of different semiotic modes. More specifically, it investigates the semiotic resources in such memes and it aims at: (1) finding out the functions of internet political comic memes; (2) pinpointing the semiotic modes and what they signify in American internet political comic memes; (3) exploring the dominant colour utilized in internet political comic memes; (4) identifying functions of the text used in such memes; (5) investigating the frequently used type of shot and camera movement in moving images (video).
The main hypotheses of the study are: (1) the main functions of internet political comic memes are criticism, sarcasm, irony, parody, and entertainment; (2) images, colours, linguistic sign, the participants’ motions, types of shot are the semiotic modes employed in internet political comic memes that have certain significance; (3) black colour is the dominant colour in internet political comic memes; (4) anchorage and relay are the functions of the text in internet political comic memes; (5) close shots and pan camera movement are frequently used in moving images (GIF or video).
The sample of analysis consists of twelve internet political comic memes about Trump which are chosen between 2016 and 2020. Six of them are image macros and the other six are videos, all of which are analysed semiotically through a model designed for this purpose. The results of the semiotic analysis are statistically treated to verify the above hypotheses. The results of the analysis show that the first, third, fifth, and fifth hypotheses are verified, whereas the second and fourth hypotheses are refuted.
The main conclusions of the study are: (1) different semiotic modes are employed in internet political comic memes, such as images, colours, linguistic signs, various shots, and types of the participants’ motions; (2) linguistic sign is found to limit and advance the meaning of internet memes and it is also used to attract the viewers' attention and preserve the aesthetic value of the content; (3) colours are found to have a great influence in memetic communication. They can be used to influence the mood of the viewer, add meaning to communication, denote specific things or classes of people, and more general ideas.
The study falls into five chapters. Chapter One introduces the problem, aims, hypotheses, procedures, limits, and value of the study. Chapter Two presents a theoretical background for the study discussing some related domains such as semiotics, theories of semiotics, media semiotics and notions such as visual communication and political communication, signs and codes, multimodality, memes, internet memes, and types of internet memes. Chapter Three develops the model of analysis. Chapter Four is concerned with the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the selected data. Chapter Five sums up conclusions and introduces recommendations and suggestions for further research works.