Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Memetic Social Resilience? : Analysing Memes about Political Violence in Present-Day Belfast, Northern Ireland

Lundqvist, Martin LU (2024) In Studies in Digital History and Hermeneutics 9. p.173-188
Abstract
This study is concerned with how contemporary Belfast riots are represented in digital culture, with a specific focus on how social resilience is discursively cultivated (or hindered) through memes about said political violence.While a substantial amount has already been written about everyday practices in post-conflict Belfast, less is known about how digital narratives represent and make sense of the recent outbursts of sectarian violence there, and what the implications of these narratives are for the discursive cultivation of social resilience in the city. This is problematic as it is increasingly acknowledged by social resilience scholars that digital practices may be both a driver of disinformation and polarisation, as well as a tool... (More)
This study is concerned with how contemporary Belfast riots are represented in digital culture, with a specific focus on how social resilience is discursively cultivated (or hindered) through memes about said political violence.While a substantial amount has already been written about everyday practices in post-conflict Belfast, less is known about how digital narratives represent and make sense of the recent outbursts of sectarian violence there, and what the implications of these narratives are for the discursive cultivation of social resilience in the city. This is problematic as it is increasingly acknowledged by social resilience scholars that digital practices may be both a driver of disinformation and polarisation, as well as a tool for building more socially resilient societies. Furthermore, given that memes are one of the dominant digital communication practices of the day it is urgent that we explore social resilience from this analytical perspective. The findings demonstrate that memes about political violence maybe both destructive and productive of the discursive cultivation of social resilience in Belfast. Keywords: memes, social resilience, riots, political violence, Belfast (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
memes, political violence, Belfast, riots, social resilience
host publication
Online Virality : Spread and Influence - Spread and Influence
series title
Studies in Digital History and Hermeneutics
editor
Schafer, Valérie and Pailler, Fred
volume
9
pages
16 pages
publisher
De Gruyter Oldenbourg
ISSN
2629-4559
2629-4540
DOI
10.1515/9783111311371-009
project
Crisis Inequalities and Social Resilience (CISR)
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7643667b-27e3-40d6-8ce7-7de9a0218057
date added to LUP
2024-08-12 11:50:34
date last changed
2025-04-23 09:33:51
@inbook{7643667b-27e3-40d6-8ce7-7de9a0218057,
  abstract     = {{This study is concerned with how contemporary Belfast riots are represented in digital culture, with a specific focus on how social resilience is discursively cultivated (or hindered) through memes about said political violence.While a substantial amount has already been written about everyday practices in post-conflict Belfast, less is known about how digital narratives represent and make sense of the recent outbursts of sectarian violence there, and what the implications of these narratives are for the discursive cultivation of social resilience in the city. This is problematic as it is increasingly acknowledged by social resilience scholars that digital practices may be both a driver of disinformation and polarisation, as well as a tool for building more socially resilient societies. Furthermore, given that memes are one of the dominant digital communication practices of the day it is urgent that we explore social resilience from this analytical perspective. The findings demonstrate that memes about political violence maybe both destructive and productive of the discursive cultivation of social resilience in Belfast. Keywords: memes, social resilience, riots, political violence, Belfast}},
  author       = {{Lundqvist, Martin}},
  booktitle    = {{Online Virality : Spread and Influence}},
  editor       = {{Schafer, Valérie and Pailler, Fred}},
  issn         = {{2629-4559}},
  keywords     = {{memes; political violence; Belfast; riots; social resilience}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{173--188}},
  publisher    = {{De Gruyter Oldenbourg}},
  series       = {{Studies in Digital History and Hermeneutics}},
  title        = {{Memetic Social Resilience? : Analysing Memes about Political Violence in Present-Day Belfast, Northern Ireland}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783111311371-009}},
  doi          = {{10.1515/9783111311371-009}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}