Memes y Políticas de Identidad. El poder de la risa en la cultura digital

Abstract

Una de las formas más arcaicas y evidentes de la comunicación es reír. En la cultura digital, las imágenes humorísticas, en concreto las satíricas, se unen a la sociedad de masas mediante la configuración de ideas e identidades. Durante el s. XIX, la identidad y el nacionalismo han sido dos caras de la misma moneda. Su representación por medio de símbolos e ideas siguen estando patentes en la actualidad. En el ámbito nacional, la identidad catalana no solo sigue teniendo una vinculación nacionalista propia del XIX, sino que ha devenido en un fenómeno de identidad propio unido asimismo al procés de independencia. Por eso mismo y con el objetivo de poner en relieve el poder de las imágenes humorísticas actuales, como son los memes, veremos cómo se convierten estas últimas, en expresiones de la memoria identitaria mediante el caso catalán.

One of the most archaic and obvious forms of communication is laughter. In digital culture, humorous images, in particular satirical ones, they join in mass society through the configuration of ideas and identities. During the 19th century, identity and nationalism have been two sides of the same coin. Their representation through symbols and ideas are still evident today. At the national level, Catalan identity not only continues to have the nationalist connection typical of the nineteenth century, but it also became an identity phenomenon of its own, closely linked to the process for independence. For that reason, and with the aim of highlighting the power of current humorous images such as memes, we will see through the Catalan case how these images become the expressions of identity memory.

One of the most archaic and obvious forms of communication is laughter. In digital culture, humorous images, in particular satirical ones, they join in mass society through the configuration of ideas and identities. During the 19th century, identity and nationalism have been two sides of the same coin. Their representation through symbols and ideas are still evident today. At the national level, Catalan identity not only continues to have the nationalist connection typical of the nineteenth century, but it also became an identity phenomenon of its own, closely linked to the process for independence. For that reason, and with the aim of highlighting the power of current humorous images such as memes, we will see through the Catalan case how these images become the expressions of identity memory.