Memes and Internet Culture
*None of the images are originally mine. I found them all on Pinterest.
Wow, this page is a lot. But there's reason for that - aside from seeing what allusions are made through all of these images. This probably isn't something I need to explain, but I have it here because I WANT TO GUSH ABOUT THIS.
LOOK AT THIS GLORIOUS COMPENDIUM OF INTERNET CULTURE. Dissonant shows are combined (like Game of Thrones and Sailor Moon) just to get cross the essence of a conversation. Squidward is accurately being used to describe global history. Monsters Inc. and Undertale kinda have the same plot! AND SO MUCH MORE.
Visual and textual allusions are being created and utilized like never before, thanks to the global nature of the internet and an individual's ability to MAKE THIS ON THEIR OWN. Just... think about this for a second. No other generation has EVER had this ability; no other generation has ever had the ability to share, compare, and parody information or texts like this before; no previous generation will quite get what we've done here, nor how we've done it; and we've done it all mostly without having to overtly come to a consensus on ANY OF IT. Internet Culture, and it's various signature aspects, like memes, arose out of a general, implicit consensus via the users, without much outside input.
But there's so much more! Memes and other aspects of Internet Culture have allowed us to diversify and democratize all knowledge and information, from history to science to literature, and explore it through comparison and satire, through juxtaposition and humor. We haven't just invented a new mode of communication; we've invented a new mode of analysis (or the potential for analysis), without a pedantic tone (and often to satirize the pedantic tone we commonly associate with the academy).
Look at this! We've created our own language, with its own aphorisms, and it's own mode of translating (down to regional dialects!). Tumblr language is now, essentially, a legitimate dialect of English, created from the way we've had to compensate for a lack of physical presence or audible tone with the various ways we can manipulate text in order to convey the correct intent of the quote. Just, think about that. WE'VE CREATED A LEGITIMATE NEW VERSION OF ENGLISH.
Internet culture is wild, man.
Sure, a lot of this is just for humor, but humor can do so much more than just make us laugh. It can point out incongruencies in our norms and social customs; it can point out patterns in our culture and art; it can be used to realistically explain a situation in a way that makes that reality easier to handle (a visual shorthand, if you will - the essence of an allusion).
So what do we do with this? Well, we're can push against the idea that we've created a new version of English. If we do, though, then what makes a language? (i.e. - grammar and rules? common base sounds for vocalization?)
Or, could we move on from a question of language to a question of art? With more accessible and democratized modes of production, are memes art? Check out this video by the Rijksmuseum and tell me what you think in the comments below!