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“Meme-Ing” Peace in Northern Ireland : Exploring the Everyday Politics of Internet Memes in Belfast Riots

Gusic, Ivan and Lundqvist, Martin LU (2023) In International Journal of Communication 17. p.6312-6334
Abstract
How do Internet memes about political violence in postwar Belfast speak to or against the peacebuilding process in Northern Ireland? Our findings demonstrate three dominant ways in which memes engage with such violence: (a) poking fun at violence, (b) poking fun at rioters, and (c) normalizing violence. Memes poking fun at violence destabilize the banal nationalism underpinning the conflict in Northern Ireland, whereas memes poking fun at rioters position the sectarian (and/or socioeconomic) “other” as inferior. Memes that normalize violence do not necessarily entail a defeatist resignation to political violence — even if that might often be the case — as they also provide comic relief by constructing a shared identity in an otherwise... (More)
How do Internet memes about political violence in postwar Belfast speak to or against the peacebuilding process in Northern Ireland? Our findings demonstrate three dominant ways in which memes engage with such violence: (a) poking fun at violence, (b) poking fun at rioters, and (c) normalizing violence. Memes poking fun at violence destabilize the banal nationalism underpinning the conflict in Northern Ireland, whereas memes poking fun at rioters position the sectarian (and/or socioeconomic) “other” as inferior. Memes that normalize violence do not necessarily entail a defeatist resignation to political violence — even if that might often be the case — as they also provide comic relief by constructing a shared identity in an otherwise divided city. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
political violence, Internet memes, humor, everyday peace, Belfast, postwar
in
International Journal of Communication
volume
17
pages
23 pages
publisher
USC Annenberg Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85177173336
ISSN
1932-8036
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d73a2bc9-e9a1-40d2-a75b-d2734cafd0c0
alternative location
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/20910
date added to LUP
2023-10-18 18:13:20
date last changed
2024-01-10 10:50:01
@article{d73a2bc9-e9a1-40d2-a75b-d2734cafd0c0,
  abstract     = {{How do Internet memes about political violence in postwar Belfast speak to or against the peacebuilding process in Northern Ireland? Our findings demonstrate three dominant ways in which memes engage with such violence: (a) poking fun at violence, (b) poking fun at rioters, and (c) normalizing violence. Memes poking fun at violence destabilize the banal nationalism underpinning the conflict in Northern Ireland, whereas memes poking fun at rioters position the sectarian (and/or socioeconomic) “other” as inferior. Memes that normalize violence do not necessarily entail a defeatist resignation to political violence — even if that might often be the case — as they also provide comic relief by constructing a shared identity in an otherwise divided city.}},
  author       = {{Gusic, Ivan and Lundqvist, Martin}},
  issn         = {{1932-8036}},
  keywords     = {{political violence; Internet memes; humor; everyday peace; Belfast; postwar}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  pages        = {{6312--6334}},
  publisher    = {{USC Annenberg Press}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Communication}},
  title        = {{“Meme-Ing” Peace in Northern Ireland : Exploring the Everyday Politics of Internet Memes in Belfast Riots}},
  url          = {{https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/20910}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}