Authors

Mihaela Mihailescu¹;  ¹ University of Bath, UK

Discussion

Political memes are no longer (only) a humorous feature of internet culture, but they act as a vehicle for information diffusion and reimaging of politics. The unique perspective of Romania, characterised by a relatively volatile and rapidly evolving political landscape, as well as a transforming online political information environment offers scholars an opportunity to explore the manner in which newer forms of online political expression are being used to represent different political actors and issues. By employing a mixed methodology of content analysis, descriptive statistics and social network analysis, the multifaceted nature of memes, the portrayal of political actors, prevailing themes, and the underlying societal context and collective narrative are unveiled, revealing implicit attitudes, societal normal and values that may not be necessarily discernible. The study argues that memes offer valuable insights into the political discourse during the 2020 Parliamentary elections in Romania by exploring the narratives used to make sense of this particular social and political reality by analysing 20 20 user-led Romanian political meme Facebook pages.

 It finds that memes frequently amplify the visibility of incumbent political actors from governing parties, unveiling their symbolic importance. Memes are mirroring the studied society by reflecting salient themes and issues, such as corruption and incompetence, serving as a means of critiquing the personal attributes of politicians and overshadowing policy matters. The analysis also reveals the intricate web of political and ideological affiliations within the emerging subthemes of the meme corpus. It contributes to a deeper understanding of memes as a driving force for political commentary, framing, and engagement.