Open AccessPoola intertekstuaalsed meemid COVID pandeemia kohta
Author(s) -
Dorota Brzozowska,
Władysław Chłopicki
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
mäetagused
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.232
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 1406-9938
pISSN - 1406-992X
DOI - 10.7592/mt2021.79.brzozowska_chlopicki
Subject(s) - politics , intertextuality , covid-19 , pandemic , sociology , period (music) , media studies , function (biology) , social media , aesthetics , history , literature , political science , art , law , medicine , disease , pathology , evolutionary biology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , biology
The aim of the paper is to show the Polish story of the Covid-19 pandemic as seen through a humorous looking glass. Different stages of coronavirus presence in the media and social discourse have been accompanied by the appearance and development of jokes and memes, which illustrate the rapidly changing pandemic situation. The database consists of over three hundred memes, movies, and comments collected between February and May 2020, during the pandemic humour peak, and come mainly from private WhatsApp and Facebook accounts of the researchers. The humorous material is related to introduced restrictions, changing laws, parliamentary elections, news from other affected countries as well as seasons and festive times – especially Easter – occurring in the same period of time. The universal themes present in the humorous material travelling around the world are complemented by the strictly culturally immersed topics, reflecting the specific social and political situation in Poland. The analysis undertaken in the article focuses on various kinds of mechanisms which involve intertextuality (allusions) as well as complexity of references that function as sources of humour, with special attention being paid to cultural references, for example, films, paintings, references to political life, including those of the life under socialism as well as universal themes, such as animal memes.