Memes, once simple units of cultural imitation, have become powerful tools of humor, communication, and cultural critique in the digital world. As visual micro-narratives laden with symbolism and shared references, memes increasingly show characteristics often associated with traditional literature. This article explores the literary potential of memes, from their narrative structure to their role in digital folklore, and whether they deserve a place in the literary canon.
Introduction
Memes, once primarily understood through the lens of evolutionary biology and cultural theory, have emerged as a pivotal force in shaping digital communication and societal narratives. The term "meme" was first coined by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene, derived from the Greek word "mimema," meaning "that which is imitated." Dawkins introduced memes as units of cultural transmission—ideas, behaviors, or styles that spread within a culture, much like genes propagate in the biological realm.
In the pre-internet era, memes encompassed a broad range of cultural phenomena: catchphrases, fashion trends, rituals, and even technologies. These units traveled through oral storytelling, printed media, and traditional education systems, evolving as they were replicated and altered across generations. As such, memes have long played a critical role in the evolution of human culture, language, and identity.
With the rise of the internet, however, the concept of the meme has undergone a profound transformation. Today, the term is most commonly associated with digital images, videos, or text-based content that spreads rapidly across social media platforms. These internet memes often blend humor, satire, and commentary, serving as both entertainment and a mirror to contemporary social issues.
Despite their seemingly trivial nature, digital memes are increasingly recognized for their complex structure and powerful impact. They function as tools of expression, persuasion, resistance, and even misinformation. As such, memes have garnered academic interest across disciplines, including media studies, anthropology, sociology, and literature.
This article explores the multifaceted nature of memes, tracing their origins, theoretical foundations, and real-world applications. By examining memes through both traditional and digital lenses, we aim to understand how these cultural artifacts not only reflect but also shape the world around us.
Literary Elements in Memes
While memes are typically understood as humorous or cultural artifacts shared online, many scholars and digital theorists argue that they also exhibit key literary elements. This perspective supports the idea that memes can be analyzed as a form of digital literature, especially when they incorporate narrative structures, symbolism, intertextuality, and rhetorical devices. Understanding these literary features helps highlight how memes function not only as entertainment but as tools for communication, commentary, and cultural storytelling.
Narrative Structure in Memes
Many memes follow a recognizable narrative arc, even within a single image or a brief video clip. These micro-narratives often contain elements such as setup, conflict, and resolution. For example, image macros with a "top text/bottom text" format often present a scenario followed by a punchline or emotional reaction. In this way, memes mirror the structure of short stories or jokes, relying on concise storytelling to elicit engagement.
Multi-panel memes and meme formats such as "Galaxy Brain" or "Distracted Boyfriend" also support narrative progression, showing a sequence of events or escalating ideas. These formats allow creators to tell stories with greater nuance, making use of visual and textual cues to guide audiences through a miniature narrative journey.
Symbolism and Allegory
Memes frequently use symbolic imagery to represent larger ideas, emotions, or cultural critiques. An example is the use of Pepe the Frog, which has been adopted to represent a wide spectrum of moods, ideologies, and political stances depending on context. Similarly, the "This Is Fine" dog meme symbolizes passive acceptance of chaos, becoming an allegory for political or environmental apathy.
Such symbolism aligns memes with literary devices used in poetry and fiction, where characters, settings, or objects carry deeper meanings beyond their literal appearance. This symbolic capacity allows memes to function as compact allegories that reflect public sentiment or critique societal norms.
Intertextuality and Cultural Referencing
A defining literary aspect of memes is their reliance on intertextuality—the shaping of a text’s meaning by other texts. Memes often recontextualize images, quotes, or media from television, literature, and film to create new interpretations. For instance, memes that remix scenes from The Simpsons, SpongeBob SquarePants, or Shakespearean plays play upon shared cultural knowledge to enhance their humor or commentary.
This intertextual practice is a form of digital bricolage, where creators draw from existing cultural materials to construct new meanings. As such, meme creation and interpretation depend on the reader’s familiarity with other works, much like traditional literature that references mythological or historical texts.
Rhetorical Devices and Persuasion
Memes frequently employ rhetorical strategies such as irony, hyperbole, satire, and juxtaposition. These devices serve not only to amuse but also to critique or persuade. Political memes, for example, often use satire to underscore inconsistencies or hypocrisies in public discourse. The use of irony—a common literary tool—can subtly undermine dominant narratives by presenting them in an exaggerated or absurd form.
Moreover, memes can evoke pathos, logos, and ethos—key rhetorical appeals defined by Aristotle. A meme showing a dire statistic overlaid with a poignant image may appeal to emotions (pathos), while a cleverly argued text meme might persuade through logic (logos) or credibility (ethos).
Language Play and Poetics
Memes often manipulate language in creative and poetic ways. Misspellings, neologisms, and phonetic spellings (e.g., “doge” speak or “cheems” language) create new linguistic registers within meme communities. These playful variations on standard language echo poetic techniques such as alliteration, assonance, and rhythm.
The use of concise wording, repetition, and visual-textual alignment in memes mirrors poetic economy, where meaning is packed into minimal language. In this way, memes blend linguistic precision with aesthetic design, making them parallel to short-form poetry or aphorisms.
Referential and Participatory Nature
Memes are inherently referential, relying on shared understanding between creator and audience. This quality aligns them with oral traditions and folk literature, where stories and jokes evolve through retelling and communal input. Memes, like folklore, are participatory and adaptive—they change form and meaning as they are shared, remixed, and reinterpreted across different contexts and subcultures.
This participatory aspect positions memes as living texts, echoing the literary tradition of collaborative storytelling. As digital folklore, they reflect the collective voice of online communities, often encapsulating complex cultural emotions in accessible, repeatable formats.
References
- Shifman, L. (2014). Memes in Digital Culture. MIT Press.
- Dawkins, R. (1976). The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press.
- Milner, R. M. (2016). The World Made Meme: Public Conversations and Participatory Media. MIT Press.
- Wiggins, B. E. (2019). The Discursive Power of Memes in Digital Culture. Routledge.
- Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (2007). Online Memes, Affinities, and Cultural Production. In A New Literacies Sampler. Peter Lang.
Memes as Folk Literature
Memes, particularly in their digital form, have emerged as a contemporary expression of folk literature. While traditional folklore consists of oral stories, legends, and customs passed from generation to generation, internet memes function as a form of modern folklore—transmitted not through oral tradition, but via digital platforms and social media. They encapsulate collective experience, social commentary, and cultural identity in a compact, highly shareable form.
Memes as Cultural Narratives
Just like folktales, memes often draw upon shared cultural knowledge. They are usually rooted in repeated themes—humor, irony, satire, or moral lessons—which are adapted and reshaped by different individuals or communities. This participatory nature of meme creation mirrors the way folk stories are adapted depending on the storyteller, location, or era, making memes dynamic and evolutionary in nature.
For example, a meme about student life might be instantly recognizable across different cultures because it taps into a universally shared experience. The simplicity and relatability of such memes mimic the archetypes found in folklore—heroes, fools, tricksters—offering commentary on daily life and human behavior.
Oral Tradition vs. Digital Transmission
Traditional folk literature was propagated orally; its survival depended on memory, repetition, and community rituals. Memes, by contrast, spread through digital networks, but they still rely on communal engagement to thrive. Both forms depend on repetition and variation. Just as a folk tale might evolve with each retelling, memes are constantly remixed, recontextualized, and adapted to new circumstances or cultural moments.
This process is sometimes referred to as “remediation,” where existing cultural artifacts are transformed into new media forms. In the case of memes, this transformation happens rapidly and often anonymously, reflecting a collective authorship that is typical of folk traditions.
Intertextuality and Communal Authorship
One of the hallmarks of folk literature is its intertextuality—the way stories refer to or build upon one another. Memes function similarly. They often reference existing memes, cultural icons, or historical events, creating layers of meaning that are understood differently depending on the audience’s cultural literacy.
Similarly, the authorship of memes is usually ambiguous. Like folk tales, memes are not owned by a single creator but are shaped by the community. They evolve through user participation, where each iteration adds to the collective narrative, much like how folk stories change as they are retold.
Memes as Modern Proverbial Forms
In folklore, proverbs and aphorisms are concise, wisdom-laden phrases that encapsulate communal values or observations. Memes often serve a similar function in the digital age. A single image paired with a caption can express a complex societal critique, a shared frustration, or a cultural truth—much like a proverb does.
Some memes even become so widely recognized that they enter the popular lexicon, functioning as shorthand for broader concepts or events. For example, the "distracted boyfriend" meme has been used to comment on everything from personal relationships to political decisions—demonstrating the meme’s capacity to convey meaning across contexts, a core characteristic of folk expressions.
Memes and the Oral-Formulaic Tradition
Folklorists have studied how oral literature often relies on formulas—repeated phrases or structures—to aid memory and performance. Memes, too, frequently rely on familiar formats or templates that users fill with new content. Examples include the "Drakeposting" meme or the "Expanding Brain" format. These templates serve as cultural frameworks, much like the structural formulas in oral traditions, allowing for creative improvisation within a communal structure.
References in Academic Discourse
Scholars have increasingly recognized memes as a legitimate area of study within folklore and literary theory. In the field of digital humanities, memes are analyzed through the lens of folklore studies, semiotics, and cultural theory. Limor Shifman, a leading researcher in this domain, argues in her book “Memes in Digital Culture” (2014) that internet memes represent a form of vernacular creativity and participatory culture.
Other scholars, such as Ryan Milner in “The World Made Meme” (2016), explore how memes serve as tools of identity expression, political discourse, and social commentary—functions historically fulfilled by folk narratives and oral traditions.
Conclusion of the Section
In viewing memes through the lens of folk literature, it becomes clear that they are not merely fleeting digital jokes but rather living cultural texts. They perform many of the same functions as traditional folklore—preserving shared values, shaping community identity, and providing a vehicle for collective expression. As such, memes occupy a significant place in the continuum of human storytelling and cultural transmission.
Literary Analysis Framework for Memes
As digital phenomena that encapsulate cultural meaning, internet memes can be examined through a literary lens. While memes are not traditionally considered part of the literary canon, they share key characteristics with literary texts, such as symbolism, narrative, intertextuality, and rhetorical devices. Applying a literary analysis framework to memes allows for a deeper understanding of their communicative power, cultural relevance, and interpretive complexity.
Memes as Texts
At their core, memes can be viewed as multimodal texts. They combine visual elements (images, GIFs, videos) with textual components to convey meaning. This makes them analogous to visual poems or graphic novels, where the interplay between image and language is essential to interpretation. Like literature, memes require contextual decoding and often rely on shared cultural knowledge.
Key aspects of memes as literary texts include:
- Narrative Structure: Some memes tell short stories or reference well-known narratives. The structure may be implicit, relying on the viewer’s familiarity with the meme format or its source material.
- Symbolism and Allegory: Memes often use symbols or exaggerated characters to represent abstract ideas, social issues, or political ideologies.
- Diction and Tone: The choice of words, phrasing, and tone contributes to the meme’s impact, much like in poetry or prose.
Intertextuality and Cultural Referencing
Intertextuality is a hallmark of both literature and memes. Memes frequently reference existing texts, historical events, pop culture, or other memes in a layered, recursive fashion. This practice mirrors literary allusion, where authors draw from previous works to add meaning or commentary.
Examples include:
- Memes based on classical literature (e.g., Shakespeare or Homeric epics).
- Satirical takes on current events using meme formats.
- Crossover memes that blend disparate cultural references (e.g., combining “Doge” with Dostoevsky quotes).
This intertextual nature underlines the need for cultural literacy to fully appreciate a meme’s meaning, much like understanding subtext in literary works.
Rhetorical Strategies and Persuasion
Memes utilize rhetorical devices such as irony, satire, hyperbole, and juxtaposition. These strategies are central to literary analysis and help convey critiques of societal norms, politics, or human behavior.
- Irony and Satire: Frequently used to highlight contradictions or absurdities, memes often serve as vehicles for social commentary.
- Juxtaposition: Pairing incongruent images and text to provoke thought or humor is a common meme technique, akin to modernist literary experimentation.
- Metaphor and Metonymy: Visual and textual metaphors in memes express complex ideas succinctly, much like poetic devices.
Memes as Participatory Literature
Unlike traditional literature, which is typically authored by individuals, memes are collaborative and iterative. They evolve through user participation, remixing, and reinterpretation—traits that align with postmodern literary theory. This participatory nature positions memes as a form of "folk literature" of the digital age.
Memes can be seen as a decentralized literary form where:
- The “author” is often anonymous or collective.
- Meaning is shaped through audience interaction and cultural context.
- Versions proliferate, each adding new layers of meaning.
Theoretical Support
The question "Are memes literature?" has been explored in academic literature. Scholars argue that memes fulfill many roles traditionally associated with literary texts:
- They are narrative devices that reflect societal values and conflicts.
- They use aesthetic and rhetorical techniques to engage audiences.
- They require interpretation and contextual knowledge to decode meaning.
As Limor Shifman notes in her book “Memes in Digital Culture,” memes function as cultural artifacts that transmit shared values, beliefs, and behaviors—similar to how literature reflects and shapes the societies in which it is produced.
Similarly, Ryan Milner's work, particularly in “The World Made Meme,” examines how digital rhetoric and memetic communication parallel literary expression. These analyses support the view that memes can be examined using tools and frameworks traditionally reserved for literature.
Methodologies for Analysis
To apply literary analysis to memes, scholars and students may employ methods such as:
- Close Reading: Examining the language, structure, and imagery of a meme for layered meanings.
- Contextual Analysis: Understanding the historical, cultural, or political background that informs a meme’s creation and reception.
- Semiotic Analysis: Interpreting the signs and symbols used in memes and how they convey meaning.
- Genre Studies: Categorizing memes by format or thematic content and analyzing how these genres evolve over time.
By integrating these methodologies, memes can be studied as serious cultural texts, providing insight into the digital zeitgeist and the sociopolitical undercurrents of the time.
References
- Shifman, L. (2014). Memes in Digital Culture. MIT Press.
- Milner, R. M. (2016). The World Made Meme: Public Conversations and Participatory Media. MIT Press.
- Dawkins, R. (1976). The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press.
- Cannizzaro, S. (2016). “Internet memes as internet signs: A semiotic view of digital culture.” Sign Systems Studies, 44(2/3), 562–586.
- Wiggins, B. E., & Bowers, G. B. (2015). “Memes as genre: A structurational analysis of the memescape.” New Media & Society, 17(11), 1886–1906.
Academic Perspectives
Academic inquiry into memes has evolved significantly since the term "meme" was first introduced by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene. Dawkins coined the term to describe a unit of cultural transmission or imitation, drawing a parallel between genetic evolution and the propagation of ideas, behaviors, and styles. Since then, memes have become a subject of scholarly interest across multiple disciplines, including anthropology, linguistics, cultural studies, media theory, and digital humanities.
Interdisciplinary Approaches
Memes are examined through a range of academic lenses. In anthropology and sociology, scholars study how memes reflect and shape cultural norms, social identities, and collective behaviors. Memes are viewed not only as artifacts of digital culture but also as tools of social communication and identity formation. In linguistics, researchers explore the semiotic structures of memes—how meaning is constructed, transformed, and disseminated through visual and textual elements.
Media and communication studies often focus on the role of memes in participatory culture and digital storytelling. Scholars like Limor Shifman argue that memes function as "units of popular culture" that are created, circulated, and transformed by users, often carrying political or ideological meanings. Her influential work, Memes in Digital Culture (2014), introduces typologies and frameworks for analyzing memes as both content and cultural practice.
Memetics: From Theory to Critique
The field of memetics attempts to apply evolutionary theory to cultural information, treating memes as replicators akin to genes. Key proponents of memetics, such as Susan Blackmore in her book The Meme Machine (1999), propose that memes follow Darwinian principles: variation, competition, and inheritance. In this view, culture evolves as memes compete for attention, replication, and survival within human minds and media environments.
However, memetics has faced substantial criticism. Critics argue that the analogy between genes and memes is overly simplistic and lacks empirical rigor. The absence of a clear mechanism for meme replication and the difficulty in isolating discrete "units" of culture have led some scholars to question the scientific validity of memetics as a standalone discipline. As a result, many researchers now prefer broader cultural or media studies frameworks that account for context, agency, and meaning-making.
Are Memes Literature?
An emerging academic debate centers on whether memes can be classified as a form of literature. Traditionally, literature is understood as written or oral works possessing artistic or intellectual value. However, as digital communication evolves, scholars are reconsidering what counts as literature in the digital age. Memes, with their hybrid nature of image and text, narrative structures, and intertextual references, challenge conventional literary boundaries.
Digital humanities scholars explore memes as participatory texts that reflect collective authorship and remix culture. They argue that memes can be read and analyzed in ways similar to poetry or satire, especially when they employ metaphor, irony, and cultural critique. This perspective positions memes within a continuum of expressive culture, suggesting that they are indeed worthy of literary analysis, albeit in a non-traditional format.
Methodologies and Research Directions
Academic studies on memes employ both qualitative and quantitative methods. Content analysis, discourse analysis, and ethnography are common in qualitative research, allowing scholars to interpret the symbolic and social meanings of memes. Quantitative approaches often involve computational methods, such as network analysis and big data analytics, to track meme dissemination, mutation, and engagement across platforms.
Recent research trends focus on the role of memes in political communication, misinformation, identity politics, and activism. Scholars are also examining the ethical implications of meme creation and circulation, particularly in relation to hate speech, appropriation, and digital manipulation.
In sum, academic perspectives on memes reveal them to be complex, multifaceted phenomena that intersect with various disciplines and methodologies. Whether approached as cultural artifacts, communication tools, or evolving texts, memes continue to gain legitimacy as subjects of serious scholarly inquiry.
Impact on Modern Literature
The rise of memes has ushered in a new era for modern literature, challenging traditional notions of authorship, textuality, and cultural value. Though memes originated as a concept in Richard Dawkins’ 1976 book, The Selfish Gene, their evolution into digital artifacts has led scholars and critics to reconsider their place within the literary canon. Can memes be considered literature? Increasingly, the answer leans toward yes, particularly when modern literature is viewed through a cultural and semiotic lens.
Memes as Postmodern Texts
Memes share many characteristics with postmodern literature: intertextuality, fragmentation, irony, and self-referentiality. In this way, memes function as micro-literatures—short, potent texts that rely on shared cultural knowledge for meaning. Like postmodern novels, they often remix existing works to produce new meanings, blurring the boundaries between author and reader.
For instance, the use of classical literary references in meme formats—such as Shakespearean quotes paired with contemporary images—demonstrates how memes engage with and reinterpret traditional literary texts. These reinterpretations often serve as social commentary, much like literary satire.
Narrative Compression and Literary Brevity
Memes represent a form of narrative compression, distilling complex ideas or emotions into a single image or short phrase. This aligns with the minimalist trends in modern poetry and flash fiction, where brevity does not diminish but rather enhances expressive depth.
Writers and scholars have noted that memes can function like haiku or aphorisms—delivering punchy, impactful messages that resonate emotionally or intellectually. As such, memes are increasingly being studied alongside other literary forms in academic settings.
Memes in Contemporary Literary Culture
Several contemporary authors and poets have begun incorporating memes into their creative processes or even publishing meme-inspired works. Literary magazines and digital journals now feature meme-based submissions, treating them as experimental literature. This reflects a broader shift in literary culture towards multimodal and digital-native forms of expression.
Moreover, memes have become a tool for literary critique and discourse. Meme accounts dedicated to analyzing literary theory, such as @litcritmemes or @poetryisnotdead, use humor and visual metaphor to make complex ideas accessible to wider audiences. This participatory culture aligns with reader-response theory, wherein the meaning of a text emerges through interaction with an audience.
Interactivity and Reader Engagement
One of the defining features of memes is their participatory nature. Unlike traditional literature, which is typically consumed passively, memes invite reinterpretation, remixing, and redistribution. This interactive dimension echoes the ethos of contemporary literary movements that emphasize collaboration and community over solitary authorship.
Digital platforms like Twitter and Reddit have become spaces where literary memes flourish, fostering dynamic conversations around books, authors, and literary theory. In this context, memes serve as a gateway to deeper literary engagement, particularly among younger audiences.
Academic Recognition and Pedagogical Use
Memes have also entered the classroom. Educators now incorporate meme creation into literature curricula to help students engage with texts in creative and critical ways. By translating literary themes into meme formats, students demonstrate comprehension and interpretive skills in a medium native to their digital experience.
Academic papers and conferences have begun to address memes as legitimate objects of literary study. Scholars explore how memes function as cultural texts, analyze their semiotic structures, and examine their role in shaping digital literary practices.
References
- Dawkins, R. (1976). The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press.
- Shifman, L. (2014). Memes in Digital Culture. MIT Press.
- Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (2007). Online Memes, Affinities, and Cultural Production. In A New Literacies Sampler (pp. 199–227). Peter Lang.
- Wiggins, B. E. (2019). The Discursive Power of Memes in Digital Culture: Ideology, Semiotics, and Intertextuality. Routledge.
- Jenkins, H., Ford, S., & Green, J. (2013). Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture. NYU Press.
- Milner, R. M. (2016). The World Made Meme: Public Conversations and Participatory Media. MIT Press.
As digital natives remix ideas with humor, commentary, and artistic flair, memes emerge as a vital cultural text of our time. Whether serving as satire or storytelling, these compressed narratives exhibit many elements traditionally associated with literature. By viewing memes through a literary lens, we expand our understanding of both genres—inviting deeper exploration into how modern media continues to reshape the boundaries of literary expression.
