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Email this article Pro-Ukrainian Memes Against 2022 Russian Invasion A Cognitive Linguistics Perspective
Abstract
aspecial status. They work as stress-relievers, information vessels, or Russian propa-
ganda resistance. The effectiveness of ameme relies on mingling verbal and visual
elements in such away that seemingly unrelated scenarios become relatable and can
be interpreted in agiven context. The text aims at discussing the cognitive mechanisms
employed in chosen pro-Ukrainian memes against the 2022 Russian invasion in terms
of their bimodal construal. An analysis of agroup of memes was conducted within the
cognitive linguistics framework, with reference to the Conceptual Metaphor Theory,
conceptual integration theory (Fauconnier & Turner, 2002), and construal (Langacker,
2008, 2019). The creation of memes triggers frameshifting and convergence of dif-
ferent mental spaces, which results in online meaning construction, where humorous
incongruity derives directly from blending and shows how jokes (about tragedies) may
become humorous, due to frame substitution.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/lsmll.2023.47.1.121-134
Date of publication: 2023-03-17 10:37:17
Date of submission: 2023-01-14 19:55:28
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