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On the recontextualization of meme quiddity

A case study of the TikTok meme #аясейчасвампокажу

ORCiD logo with link | Tomas Bata University in Zlín
ORCiD logo with link | University of Vienna
ORCiD logo with link | Tomas Bata University in Zlín
Published online: 3 June 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00121.shu
Abstract
This paper analyzes the discursive operation of recontextualization in shaping the multimodal meme quiddity of #аясейчасвампокажу
on TikTok (TT) by examining the interplay of platform design, the pragmatic aim of the creator and user reactions. Meme quiddity is understood as a flexible (multimodal) configuration of semiotic attributes recurrent in internet meme (IM) variants, serving as a contextualization cue and formative factor of an IM family (Segev, Elad, Asaf Nissenbaum, Nathan Stolero, and Limor Shifman. 2015. “Families and networks of internet memes: The relationship between cohesiveness, uniqueness, and quiddity concreteness.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 201: 417–433. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). The study employs top-down and bottom-up procedures combining multimodal (critical) and socio-pragmatic discourse analyses. We focus on four user strategies for recontextualizing meme quiddities: combining memes, replacing the element of quiddity, placing the quiddity in an absurd context, and embedding the quiddity into new discourse. It was noted that the platform’s algorithm and affordances impact (1) the contextualization of quiddity in the TT derivatives within a family; and (2) the modes of quiddity entextualization. Humor plays a pivotal role in shaping social group cohesion and “playful patriotism.”
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.What is an internet meme?
  • 3.Quiddity and recontextualization
  • 4.Contextual characteristics of #аясейчасвампокажу
  • 5.Meme characteristics of #аясейчасвампокажу
  • 6.Data selection and methodology
  • 7.Multimodal recontextualizations of #аясейчасвампокажу
    • 7.1A meme within a meme
    • 7.2Meme as an act of user’s performance
    • 7.3Meme as dialogue
    • 7.4Shift towards another discourse practice
  • 8.Discussion and conclusions
  • Declaration of conflicting interest
  • Notes
  • References
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