The (de)-politicization of Internet memes in Chinese national youth propaganda campaign

IF 4.2 1区文学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

Information Communication & Society Pub Date : 2023-10-05 DOI:10.1080/1369118x.2023.2266005

Jie Cui

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

ABSTRACTVisual political communication in the social media sphere is increasingly valuable for its ability to more effectively persuade viewers in this increasingly cluttered media landscape. Using multi-model discourse analysis and following the theoretical framework of Everyday Politics, this study focuses on a random sample (N = 200) of user-generated Internet memes from Chinese national youth propaganda campaign Youth Study. In addition, the author observed the sharing and dissemination of these memes in online public discussions. The findings reveal that young participants maintain a varying distance from politics. They employ strategies such as dark humor, hyperbole, contrast, and appropriation of pop culture to portray two key roles – the charming, brilliant followers and the abandoned, hunted breakers, and to construct four main scenarios-cute threat, humble beg, funny politics, and veiled resistance. This politicized propaganda campaign is being transformed from state aspirations to the creative daily cultural consumption of young netizens. This analysis contributes to the scholarly literature on youth subcultures, political mobilization, and visual propaganda in post-socialist China.KEYWORDS: Youth studyCCYLInternet memesvisual communicationpolitical communication Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the project of digital dissemination of cultural IP of the Palace Museum (China Youth Development Foundation and Mercedes-Benz Starwish Star Fund) and the Major National Social Science Fund of China [grant number 18ZDA312].Notes on contributorsJie CuiJie Cui is a Ph.D. candidate of journalism and communication at the School of Media & Communication (SMC), Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research interests include political communication and popular culture [email: 251232215@qq.com].

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网络表情包在中国全国青年宣传中的(去)政治化

摘要社交媒体领域的视觉政治传播因其在日益混乱的媒体环境中更有效地说服观众的能力而越来越有价值。本研究采用多模型话语分析，遵循日常政治的理论框架，对中国全国青年宣传活动“青年研究”中用户生成的网络模因进行随机抽样(N = 200)研究。此外，作者还观察了这些模因在网络公共讨论中的分享和传播。调查结果显示，年轻的参与者与政治保持着不同的距离。他们运用黑色幽默、夸张手法、对比手法和对流行文化的借鉴，塑造了两个关键角色——魅力四射、才华横溢的追随者和被抛弃、被追捕的破坏者，并构建了四个主要场景——可爱的威胁、卑微的乞求、有趣的政治和隐蔽的抵抗。这种政治化的宣传活动正在从国家愿望转变为年轻网民的创造性日常文化消费。这一分析有助于研究后社会主义中国青年亚文化、政治动员和视觉宣传的学术文献。关键词:青年研究网络模因视觉传播政治传播披露声明作者未发现潜在利益冲突。本工作得到故宫博物院文化知识产权数字化传播项目(中国青少年发展基金、奔驰星愿之星基金)和国家重大社会科学基金[批准号18ZDA312]的支持。作者简介崔洁，上海交通大学传媒与传播学院新闻与传播学博士研究生。她的研究兴趣包括政治传播和流行文化[email: 251232215@qq.com]。

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来源期刊

Information Communication & Society Multiple-

CiteScore

10.20

自引率

4.80%

发文量

110

期刊介绍： Drawing together the most current work upon the social, economic, and cultural impact of the emerging properties of the new information and communications technologies, this journal positions itself at the centre of contemporary debates about the information age. Information, Communication & Society (iCS) transcends cultural and geographical boundaries as it explores a diverse range of issues relating to the development and application of information and communications technologies (ICTs), asking such questions as: -What are the new and evolving forms of social software? What direction will these forms take? -ICTs facilitating globalization and how might this affect conceptions of local identity, ethnic differences, and regional sub-cultures? -Are ICTs leading to an age of electronic surveillance and social control? What are the implications for policing criminal activity, citizen privacy and public expression? -How are ICTs affecting daily life and social structures such as the family, work and organization, commerce and business, education, health care, and leisure activities? -To what extent do the virtual worlds constructed using ICTs impact on the construction of objects, spaces, and entities in the material world? iCS analyses such questions from a global, interdisciplinary perspective in contributions of the very highest quality from scholars and practitioners in the social sciences, gender and cultural studies, communication and media studies, as well as in the information and computer sciences.