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Memes as Communication: Copying History & Copycat Imagery

Aaron Weddle

There are memes on everything from politics to math, economics to music, and even

memes about memes. There can be a meme about anything. Given this, it was hard to

determine what to write about with reference to memes and memetic culture; the temptation

to write about political discourse and information literacy was strong but in this paper, I want

to go beyond that. All the content is part of the story. That is, we cannot get a full picture of

what exactly a meme is, and how it works as a means of communication, without examining its

use in as many conceptual areas as possible.

Fig. 1.

First, I want to examine what “counts” as a meme, or if there are hard limits to that question.

Second, I want to examine memes with reference to the history of media and communication,

and see what parallels there are, and if they are useful in considering the development of
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memes and memetics. Finally, I want to examine how memes have changed the cultural

landscape, and how information is processed and created.

1. One Does Not Simply Create a Meme

So, what exactly is a meme? The definition (or origin) of the term memes and “memetics” is

consistent across most of the research, pointing towards concepts developed by Richard

Dawkins in the 1970s. Andy Woodworth writes that:

“The origin of the term “meme” is from the 1976 book The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.
The underlying concept draws parallels between genetic selection and cultural ideas; that they
travel, morph, and have characteristics that change over time to their respective environment.
Like their organic counterparts, a meme can take on new meanings and connotations as people
use them to describe something…” (Woodworth, 2018, p. 88).
Other researchers have advanced variations on this concept to further capture the complexity

of “memes” as they exist as a mode of communication in the present. However, there are

important things to note from this first definition, namely that memes are something which can

morph culturally and take on new meanings. but that does not exactly give us any insight into

how a meme “works” so to speak. How is it related to communication? Does it bear any

significant resemblance to trends in print media? How is it structured in a narrative sense?

Memes are interesting as a narrative device. They can be seen as small parts of a larger

story, something that points towards a larger narrative. At the same time, they are highly

contextualized. de Saint Laurent et. al. spend some time exploring the contextualization and

narrative development of memes. They frame most of their paper around memes used to

describe the COVID-19 pandemic, and open with thoughts on storytelling as a natural response

to an event of this magnitude. The idea of memes as “partial stories” emerges quickly, with
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emphasis on the fact that memes are highly contextual and usually quite small, and they point

to larger narratives. The authors want to move away from a view of narrative psychology that

focuses on stories as “complete” and focus instead on “…those that are “loosely” narrative in

nature” (de Saint Laurent et. al., 2021, p. 2). This poses a bit of a problem. As memes are a

combination of visual and textual information, there are a lot of moving pieces. The authors say

that instead of trying to “document a plot,” the focus instead needs to be on analyzing the

relationship between characters in the memes to get a clearer idea of a narrative framework

(de Saint Laurent et. al., 2021, p. 4). The focus shifts from a clear narrative “plot” to roles and

relationships as the catalyst for narrative. With memes, this leaves us with a “blank” canvas,

which is pre-conditioned in various ways.

The authors want to treat the narratives as both incomplete and contextualized. The

authors think it is helpful (in thinking about roles) to think about things in terms of “transactional

analysis;” that is, “…how specific roles we play “call” specific responses and lead to relatively stable

interactional patterns or scenarios” (de Saint Laurent et. al., 2021, 4). Further, in thinking about memes

in terms of transactional analysis and “roles,” they want to employ the work of Stephen Karpman to

think about the different “players” in terms of “Victim, Pursuer, and Rescuer,” but they adjust their

picture to encapsulate more, focusing instead on a wider array of roles. They write that “…drawing

particularly on Karpman (1968) and Klapp (1962), we propose an integrated framework of roles in the

analysis of meme-based narratives, which centers on Victims-Persecutors-Heroes-Fools. These character

roles are not seen as rigid and, indeed, the same actor can play various roles…” (de Saint Laurent et. al.,

2021, 4).

I think this narrative framework can be useful, but it still must be contextualized in different

ways. Sometimes you can tell how a meme functions by clear visual cues of the “players” in the meme.
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Other times, the meme might explain itself through text, but make more sense if you understand the

background information. For example, there is a popular meme of Boromir from Lord of the Rings

saying: “One does not simply walk into Mordor.” Meme creators take the prefix “One does not simply,”

and insert a difficult or arduous task. You may have noticed that the title of this section alludes to

this meme. One of the beautiful things about memes is that, as a form of communication, I can

use them in a self-reflexive way to advance a narrative on memes, using this paper as the

subject matter (see Fig. 2 & Fig. 3).1

For example, I could also substitute “walk into Mordor” with “write a research paper,”

or any other task. This is a useful case example in part because the tone is easy to understand

with few prior conditions having to be met (except, perhaps, understanding the positionality of

the quote with reference to the Lord of the Rings corpus). Even then, the text itself betrays the

narrative tone and setup for the eventual meme.

Fig. 2. Fig. 3.

The figures above show a simplification of the birth of a meme. A still was taken from a

movie with the associated quote, and the quote was distorted, rearranged, or otherwise edited

1
This considers some notion of the problem of using a thing to help describe itself, or otherwise an assumption
that the audience will be able to understand a) a particular meme, and b) the way it is contextualized. Using
memes in the paper is both an aesthetic choice, as well as a crucible through which I will try to contextualize a
meme outside of its original context, to make its normal use and contextualization make sense.
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to reflect something else which makes narrative sense according to the theme. Thinking about

the loose narrative structure de Saint Laurent et. al. mention, it is not always so easy to

understand the different aspects of e meme and how it is communicated. The “meme” as an

entity though, ignoring the internal aspects, is also quite interesting. Grant Kien writes of the

“viral” quality of memes, claiming that the digital (networked) world:

“…creates an environment perfect for the nurturing of electronic internet memes, a type of
content that thrives in the virtual environment, seeming to take on lives of their own that
disconnects the signifiers from their origins. Thus, the simulacrum that comprises the virtual
environment is populated by free-floating signifiers (i.e., simulacra) that easily get repurposed
and passed from one site to many others…” (Kien, 2013, p. 555).
Kien goes on to address the internet as a medium, and, in a way, how the “immediacy” of the

internet helps the idea of memetic behavior make sense, using Innis’ framework of literacy

against orality. He writes that “The real-time facilitation of networked communication coupled

with the interactive nature of hypermedia imitates the immediacy of oral discussions” (Kien,

2013, p. 559).

While I want to focus less on the role of internet as medium, I was interested to see the

internet framed in a discussion of orality and literacy. Thinking ahead to the potential for

longevity of memes and memetic media (or non-potential) I think it is fruitful to mention a

claim Innis makes on mediums in relation to knowledge and preservation. He writes that “Our

knowledge of other civilizations depends in large part on the character of the media used by

each civilization…” (Innis, 1991, p. 33). While memes rapidly change, the conceptual use of

memes to advance dialogue, make jokes, or otherwise spread information has not changed

much. It is unclear to me now to what extent they may be preserved as digital artifacts (or if the

subjective nature of some makes them hard to preserve). Regardless, it is interesting to keep
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these features of memes in mind as we move on to a discussion of how memes parallel

historical communication patterns.

2. “They’re the Same Picture:” Memes as Historical

The best starting point for a discussion of memes as a mirror of historical forms of

communication might be to establish that they simply follow patterns of historical

communications. If we think of memes in terms of something which is created and then widely

shareable, we can first associate the memes with something like the chapbook. This might be a

tenuous comparison at best, but it is worth exploring. Much like chapbooks, memes make

sense (or do not) based on context and milieu. Chapbooks are a particularly relevant starting

point in thinking about cost. Briggs and Burke write that many books were “too expensive,” and

“…printed media also came in cheaper and simpler forms such as ‘chapbooks’, often illustrated,

though the illustrations were sometimes taken from earlier books and had little to do with the

text” (Briggs & Burke, 2020, p. 28). There are some loose connections here in comparing

chapbooks and memes, if we consider both readily shareable pieces of media that often contain

illustrations. Here, however, I think the “spreadable” quality is important. This is even more

true since the medium in question is the internet.

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Fig. 4

Another point of comparison is with the ability to process information. In an era where so

much information is at our fingertips, the fact that memes are small plays to their strengths.

That is, a meme can quickly inform or reinforce a narrative according to its information. For

example, In their role as “partial stories” the de Saint Laurent et. al. note that “Even if a single

meme cannot capture a complex storyline, it certainly can grasp key elements of it that are

then completed by reference to similar memes, to other online content, and to broader societal

events and references” (de Saint Laurent et. al., 2021, p. 11). Briggs and Burke note that the

processing of information is important, especially in the political realm, and that literacy had

political consequences. They write that “The political consequences of literacy included the

spread of written records – noticeable by the thirteenth century, if not before – and with it a

great dependence on the processing of ‘information’” (Briggs & Burke, 2020, p. 41). This is true

both of political commentary as well as more detailed record keeping.

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In the same way that media and books can enforce ideas and bring people together, memes

can shape collective identity. Gal et. al. note that responses to a video called “It Gets Better”

both started a memetic response and helped shape and define collective identify for LGBTQ

people. In this way, the authors are treating of the idea that memetics help enforce and shape

collective identities. Part of this formation of a collective identity “…consists of the ongoing

production, performance, and validation of values, codes, and norms through discourse” (Gal,

et. al., 2016, p. 1699). While some early printed media was only shared with a select group, 2

memes are widely a public thing, but contextualized at the same time. However, we can still

understand them if we can understand the roles internal to the meme (per de Saint Laurent et.

al.).

It is interesting to think about manuscripts as something both singular and agential, as well

as something collective and participatory. Despite the limited viewership of manuscripts in

some cases, there is still viewership. While memes are typically more shareable as they involve

what is usually a template with text superimposed on an image, they at the same time are

singular and a practice of agency. In repeating or reproducing content we are engaged in

recreating or reproducing social norms and culture, but at the same time our participation is

one of understanding and cognition, and memes are not limited to one medium (despite being

one). They could show up in games, books, films, and so on (Wiggins & Bowers, 2015, p. 1896).

Despite my repetitive comments that memes are a “medium,” the authors claim that memes

are not a medium but rather a genre. While this makes some sense to me, I tend to see memes
2
For example, in Briggs and Burke’s discussion of manuscripts, they note that manuscripts were a response (in
part) to not wanting books to be available to the public. They write further that is served as “a means of social
bonding between the individuals involved often a group of friends” (Briggs & Burke, 2020, p. 52). This is interesting
to consider, because memes can be created and shared the same way but could easily be made viral if shared to
the wrong (or right) place.
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as a medium of transmission of information within a medium; I see memes as serving both as a

micro-medium and a genre at the same time.

In some ways, manuscripts, chapbooks, and other forms of media achieve a status of being

both a medium and genre. That is, they transmit information, but they do it in through a

particular method and style. Wiggins & Bowers sum this up nicely when they describe memes

as a “known structure.” They write that “Memetic systems are defined by the presence of an

emergent meme (an altered form of spreadable media) that is recursively reproduced in a

process in which agents adhere to an unstated but known structure” (Wiggins & Bowers, 2015,

p. 1901-1902). The most common theme that comes up in the discussion of memes as historical

is the idea that memes are a medium through which information is transmitted. While this is

probably the loosed connection of all, it is at the same time the most important. Much like

other forms of media and communication, memes are something which evolve beyond their

bounds. What starts as a shareable template becomes a catalyst for political discourse, humor,

and so on.

While some of the historical associations are loose, they are important in examining memes

as a form of media, or a means of communication. In the same way that there are major shifts

historically in how we communicate, the use of memes evolves over time. Even the original

term “meme” was repurposed to describe a transferable and repeatable form of media. It is

worth thinking about the implications of memes as both rapidly shareable and “bite size” as it

were. We can think of memes as small units of shareable, editable, and repeatable information

that can advance narratives.

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3. Memes, Memes Everywhere

It is worth examining how memes have shaped the landscape of communication, for good

or ill. I think this warrants a closer, or perhaps more thorough examination of how memes

function and how they advance narrative. While historical semblances are tenuous, they are

certainly a form of media and are a frequent object of communication.

Fig. 5.

To make things simple, I have used the context of this paper and the subject of memes

as the basis for the memes I included in this paper. However, memes can reference anything no

matter how niche. This in turn creates issues of echo chambers and enforces existing biases. As

small bits of information, memes seem insignificant as a means of communication, but this is

also their strength, along with their reusability. My favorite definition so far of a meme comes

from Seiffert-Brockmann et. al. They write that ““…the core operation of these processes is the
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permanent copying and re-cording of a pre-existing theme that represent a constant alteration

of text and images in something similar, but ultimately conveying a distinct meaning” (Seiffert-

Brockmann et. al., 2018, p. 2864). In the article the authors consider memes as a kind of

“game,” but they frame memes as “games” in the name of social cohesion. This cohesion in

turn can reinforce existing biases and echo chambers in the digital sphere.

It seems there are a plethora of ways to think about memes, but as a form of

communication, they are most importantly transmitters of information. Whether they function

as an agent of social cohesion, change, or something else, they still transmit information. Sara

Cannizzaro focuses on this aspect of memes and wants to consider the semiotic value of

memes. While memes as “semiotics” or “signs” makes me think back to de Saint Laurent

(thinking of memes as “incomplete” narratives), who I will return to in a moment, Cannizzaro

makes an important distinction that beliefs are not something which can be transmitted, but

rather just information (Cannizzaro, 2016, p. 573). Returning to the idea of bias, Cannizzaro

contests that memes are given meaning collectively through “expectations.” This echoes in

some ways Noam Gal’s position on memes and collective identity. While memes can shape

identity, they are also given narrative weight through expectations.

Part of the reason memes work is because of cognitive load. According to hrw, “The

principle of cognitive load warns us that brain energy is a finite resource. . .In light of this need

for simplicity, the appeal of memes comes into focus. Memes excel in packaging complicated

socio-political commentary and satirical discourse into concise, digestible chunks” (hrw, 2021).

Returning to de Saint Laurent et. al. and Cannizzaro, memes certainly serve as signs, or

incomplete bits of narrative which are further contextualized and point to something bigger (or
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otherwise reinforce existing positions). I have even been in a position of finding out something

newsworthy has happened by seeing a meme about it first!

As I keep mentioning, memes are also problematic, especially when thinking about echo

chambers. While memes need not always be political, they can certainly be used as a political

tool. Heidi Huntington writes that:

The intertextual, parodic, and appropriative techniques central to memes’ discursive and
rhetorical claims (Huntington, 2016; Milner, 2016) create a communication context in which
memes’ impact is likely dependent on the viewer’s understanding of these intertextual
referents and their ability to fill in the blanks and complete the argument, or joke, made within
it…” (Huntington, 2019, p. 196).
While the contextual elements within a meme might serve more as roles if we think in terms of

de Saint Laurent et. al., these roles are at the same time placeholders, and these placeholders

underpin existing opinions. If I am used to seeing some person p in role X, I might be thrown off

if I see person p instead in role Y. To reduce cognitive load, I want to stick with narratives I

already understand, and which fit my world view. If a meme I am already familiar with paints p

as the fool, rather than the hero, I will (likely) disregard this narrative. Huntington explains that

selective judgment and perception influence the way in which we understand the meaning of

media communications (Huntington, 2019, p. 197). This is all to say, while memes can be

helpful in spreading information, they can be dangerous at the same time—by closing us off to

other ideas or propping up bad ones.

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Appendix of Figures

Fig. 1. Figure 1 is an image sourced from https://imgflip.com/memegenerator of a meme called

“Is This a Pigeon?” According to Know Your Meme, “Is this a pigeon?" is a memorable quote

said by the protagonist character from the 1990s Japanese anime TV series The Brave Fighter of

Sun Fighbird in a scene wherein the humanoid character erroneously identifies a butterfly as a

pigeon” (Know Your Meme, 2021).3 I think this is an initial misattribution from a few decades

ago make a resurgence, where the character in the meme can have anything substituted for the

original subject which is misattributed.

Fig. 2. This image was taken from the website “Know Your Meme,” it depicts Boromir from the

Lord of the Rings series stating, “One Does Not Simply Walk into Mordor.” The text has been

edited down in most cases to “One Does Not Simply…” The creator will often substitute “Walk

into Mordor” with another difficult task https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/one-does-not-

simply-walk-into-mordor

Fig. 3. Figure 3 is again sourced from https://imgflip.com/memegenerator, using the format

provided through Fig. 2, but self reflexively referencing the paper.

Fig. 4. Sourced from https://imgflip.com/memegenerator, Figure 4 shows the character Pam

from The Office in a meme asking to identify the differences between two pictures. According

to the site “Know Your Meme,” the image is from the episode titled “Search Committee,”

3
On a personal note, I was quite excited to dig deeper into the origin of this particular meme, as it is my favorite
format. What might be more interesting is that I never researched the origin. I built the context myself through
whichever initial conditions I encountered the meme in. This gives some credence to de Saint Laurent et. al.,
insofar as understanding the specific roles at play within the meme can influence its narrative ability.
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where “Pam pranks acting manager Creed by asking him to spot the differences between two

pictures, clarifying off camera that they're actually the same picture” (Know Your Meme, 2021).

Fig. 5. Sourced from https://imgflip.com/memegenerator. Finally, Figure 5 depicts Buzz

Lightyear from the titular Toy Story series telling Woody “X, X Everywhere.” According to Know

Your Meme, the origins of the meme were a response to the amount of pornography on a

message board. They note that:

“As an image macro, "X, X EVERYWHERE" had its beginning on 420chan imageboard in 2007,
when Kirtaner, one of the site administrators, implemented a wordfilter that would
automatically fill in any text-less image posts with the phrase "DICKS EVERYWHERE." Although it
was designed to curb some of the users from spamming the board with porn, other users soon
began posting variations of X Everywhere, replacing "Dicks" with a word more relevant to the
image attachment” (Know Your Meme, 2021).
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