MaintenanceOne day, someone, somewhere on the web, humorously hijacks a photo or video. A meme was born. Semiologist François Jost has looked into this playful viral phenomenon, which has become a tool of disinformation in war
Professor emeritus at the Sorbonne-Nouvelle, François Jost deciphers, in Do you meme? From parody to the digital pandemic (CNRS editions, 22 euros, 230 pages, in bookshops on April 21), this recent demonstration of pop culture which, by means of a simple diverted image, serves to laugh, to make fun, to denounce, to support a cause or to express our fears.
Why did you become interested in memes?
I appreciate this idea of persistence in modification, which is specific to memes. A theme, a starting image will give rise to countless variations, reversals, imitations, and there is a form of addictive pleasure in following the thread of this continuity through what is constantly changing. From an academic point of view, it is true that this is a subject that arouses little interest. In the academic world, there is a devaluation of what is humorous. Me, on the contrary, I like to take objects that are initially illegitimate, and treat them in a legitimate way. Besides, I love cat memes.
To begin, could you clarify your definition of the meme?
The meme is an image that circulates, either fixed or animated, with a minimal modification, an addition, which is very often a text. We are in the principle of the remix, even if I don’t really like this term. It’s a fairly young practice, but it only updates an anthropological appeal for mockery: parodies and pastiche are as old as the world.
The viral aspect is important, right?
Of course, because it is a phenomenon that is linked to the Internet. But I don’t put virality in the definition, because there are memes that are not viral. Virality is when it works. Conversely, an image can be viral without being a meme. This is the case, for example, of the song by Psy Gangnam Style, which circulated incredibly, without initially undergoing modification. It became a meme when we grafted Trump or Bernie Sanders into the decor. The platforms on which these productions circulate are also important. The memes that teenagers post on TikTok to make fun of their teachers are not those found on YouTube, or even on 4chan, a famous English-speaking forum for exchanging images.
Where does this strange term come from, as if “even” had lost a piece of its hat?
It was introduced by biologist and ecologist Richard Dawkins, who formed it from the term “mimesis”. This neologism draws a parallel between biology and society. Like genes, memes, these small units of meaning, would spread from brain to brain by replicating on the Web and would change our behaviors, our conceptions. According to memetics, cultural phenomena work by imitation, which is still an inspiring idea.
You have 76.8% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.