Semiotic excess in memes

Abstract

Abstract Since the apparition of the web 2.0, memes have emerged as a form of language that blends visual and linguistic signs in a compressed format. Memes represent a typical production of our postdigital society, insofar as they blur boundaries between the digital and the non-digital, circulate quickly and may have an influence on our society. Memes also participate in the reinterpreting and expressing complex emotions, ideas, and cultural references in a new, condensed form. The aim of this paper is to show how memes convey hateful representations, both through language and visual signs based on popular culture, thus participating in a climate of violence in public discourse. This discourse analysis is based on a case study of memes that present excessive messages, through a particular blend of linguistic and visual utterances.