About the AuthorJacklyn Heslop has her B.A from California State University, Stanislaus and is currently working on her M.A in English with a special emphasis on rhetoric and the teaching of writing at the same institution. She hopes to continue on to her PhD in order to continue her studies into memetics and/or writing centers. In addition to those already stated, her research interests are multimodal pedagogy, digital and visual rhetorics, and alternative forms of assessment (specs/contract grading). ContentsThe Enthymeme: Filling in Missing Pieces Cultural Inheritance: Darwin to Digital Rhetoric Meme Creation and Reproduction Enthymemes and Visual: Is There an Argument? |
Reading the MemeThe final point that needs to be addressed about memetic media is how its structure influences its readability. Memetic media can be read because they rely on a certain set of grammars, which are defined by the collective who creates and disseminates it. The grammar of memes do not abide by the same prescriptive rules of standard English, meaning punctuation or spelling depends on the user and audience instead of what has been decided to be proper. Milner argues that memetic grammar is “a descriptive account” where “Understanding images depends on understanding the socially situated grammar foundational to them” (49). Grammar is created through the use of an image with implicit meaning, recognized as an iconic visual, and a phrase or word that frames the creator’s intended message (Hahner 151). As mentioned previously, each meme has its own style inherent in its structure, so, in combination with an icon, a meme can be read by any person familiar with the two.The image of a meme, as a portion of the grammar, becomes a frame of reference allowing it be read. Frame theory, as of this moment, is not extensive enough to encompass memetic media. Leslie Hahner, in her article “The Riot Kiss: Framing Memes as Visual Argument,” argues that the speedy circulation of memes preclude them from existing within frame analysis, as scholars have no way to study the massive framework that goes into the dissemination of one meme. Hahner states, “Frame analysis suggests that audience members can engage multiple interpretive frameworks to fashion arguments about a given text” and uses this to justify a comprehensive look at “Vancouver Riot Kiss” meme, as shown in Figure 6 (153).6  Figure 6: "Vancouver Riot Kiss" Richard Lam took this photo in 2011 during a riot that broke out after Canada lost the Stanley Cup, a hockey championship (“Vancouver Riot Kiss” knowyourmeme). Audience members bring a number of frames, ways of composing meaning through personal or cultural reference, to interpret meaning within verbal statements or visual media (154). An image that gets appropriated into a meme creates its own frame of interpretation, which is then replicated and altered slightly each time an audience member engages in a new iteration (156). To demonstrate, Figure 7 follows the same frame established by “Is this a pigeon?”, but this meme’s reinterpretation references another frame.7  Figure 7: "Is this Satan Worship?" Harry Potter, the book/film series following a boy wizard as he attends a school for witchcraft and wizardry, was deemed “satanic” by those with strong Christian morals due to the plot containing references to black magic. The specific speaker, “Christian soccer moms,” is an even deeper frame. Most people considered the Harry Potter series as dealing with the complexities of adolescence and the debate of what makes a good or a bad person, but those in the religious community strongly despise the series, arguing “the children’s book ‘normalizes acts of magic’ and . . . therefore it is exposing their children to the works of the devil” (Espinoza). The “soccer moms” carries with it a stereotype of an overbearing maternal figure, which further situates this meme with a very particular audience. The version of this meme was created through the layering of references meant to be read by another who has similar frames to reassemble the message. Overall, the popularity of the meme allowed it to establish its own grammar, its own format to convey meaning, yet it was still is able to target very small audiences by intermingling concise and pointed references. As mentioned previously, enthymemes can have meaning because what is missing is relevant to the intended audience. Both the enthymeme and the meme work within a particular audience grounded in a topoi that connects the message’s creator and viewer. The meme’s commonplace is within its style and image; for example, the Figure 8 is a meme created for an Introduction to Biology class.  Figure 8: "Is this Evolution?" In discussing evolution, the class learned that Lamarck's theory of evolution wrongly assumed that animals could inherit the acquired traits of their parents. The most common explanation of Lamarck’s theory is that if each generation of giraffes stretched their necks, then their offspring would acquire that elongated neck. This would be comparable to a mother learning to sew and her child being born knowing how to do the same. If one is familiar with the style and intended interpretation of the meme, they would conclude that “Lamarck” wrongly found that the picture covering the butterfly represents the process of evolution. The audience would not need a deep understanding of the content, although it would help the reader evaluate the validity of the claims within the meme. The purpose of this example is to demonstrate that once a commonplace is established in the visual and style of the media, then any meme following the established grammar can be read. 6. Lam, Richard. Riot Kiss. http://richardlampix.com/index.html, accessed 8 December 2018. 7. “Is this satan worship?” Tumblr, unloaded by classicalxeverything, 25 November 2018. |
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