Post 6: Online and Offline Authority in Shaping Meme Messages
Kirsten Jacobson
Kirsten,jacobson123@gmail.com
Aguilar's work regarding genres and frames provide a very good frame through which to analyze my collection of memes, especially in regards to the role of authority. The genre that seems to be most prominent throughout my collection is that of religious figure memes. In a good majority of the memes in my collection, the person of focus in the image is either a monk dressed in traditional robes, or a depiction of Buddha himself. This image of a meditating male figure in robes is the overall genre that is presented through this collection of memes which would suggest, and is supported later by other frames and factors, that the memes present an overall positive and rather serious tone of peace and living a life of simplicity.
To continue this blog post in regards of Aguilar, there is not only a clear genre throughout my meme collection, but also a very precise frame that seems to be presented repetitiously. That frame is that of promoting or playful. None of the memes in my collection seem to be too serious in tone even if they are talking about something serious like getting closer to nirvana or finding eternal peace. The memes almost always put the Buddhist religion on a pedastool of being a peaceful and distant religion than others, and its followers better than the normal people of society.
The specific religious issues and community aspects of Buddhism being affirmed throughout these memes is that of tranquility, peace, and ultimate seclusion from the bad of the world. There is a heavy presence in these memes of religious figures of high authority from monks to Buddha himself, implying that if the positive message from the meme is coming across, and the person shown on that meme is an authority figure in the religion, that the authority figures are who are to be followed and viewed in a positive light, that they are the ones that represent the Buddhist faith as a whole.
While not much of the teachings of any text are recognized in these memes it is fairly clear that they are coming from an insider perspective through the positive tone and lack of judgement or sarcasm in the genre or frame. Though it can be assumed that the people making the memes are not the monks often featured in the memes because of their practice of isolation from the outside world, it can be said that the meme maker is in fact inspired by these authority figures as the leaders of the religion.
Overall I think that this genre and frame presents a very one sided view of the religion. They are relatable to those who are Buddhist in the since that they are viral enough to be found on the top page of google for the memes, but they present no other outlook or insight in the religion for someone outside of the faith to understand anything other than the fact that all Buddhists are peaceful and secluded, because the main people depicted are monks, or extremely zealous figures in the community, who don't exactly represent the community as a whole just as Nuns don't in the Catholic community.
Link to memes
Aguilar's work regarding genres and frames provide a very good frame through which to analyze my collection of memes, especially in regards to the role of authority. The genre that seems to be most prominent throughout my collection is that of religious figure memes. In a good majority of the memes in my collection, the person of focus in the image is either a monk dressed in traditional robes, or a depiction of Buddha himself. This image of a meditating male figure in robes is the overall genre that is presented through this collection of memes which would suggest, and is supported later by other frames and factors, that the memes present an overall positive and rather serious tone of peace and living a life of simplicity.
To continue this blog post in regards of Aguilar, there is not only a clear genre throughout my meme collection, but also a very precise frame that seems to be presented repetitiously. That frame is that of promoting or playful. None of the memes in my collection seem to be too serious in tone even if they are talking about something serious like getting closer to nirvana or finding eternal peace. The memes almost always put the Buddhist religion on a pedastool of being a peaceful and distant religion than others, and its followers better than the normal people of society.
The specific religious issues and community aspects of Buddhism being affirmed throughout these memes is that of tranquility, peace, and ultimate seclusion from the bad of the world. There is a heavy presence in these memes of religious figures of high authority from monks to Buddha himself, implying that if the positive message from the meme is coming across, and the person shown on that meme is an authority figure in the religion, that the authority figures are who are to be followed and viewed in a positive light, that they are the ones that represent the Buddhist faith as a whole.
While not much of the teachings of any text are recognized in these memes it is fairly clear that they are coming from an insider perspective through the positive tone and lack of judgement or sarcasm in the genre or frame. Though it can be assumed that the people making the memes are not the monks often featured in the memes because of their practice of isolation from the outside world, it can be said that the meme maker is in fact inspired by these authority figures as the leaders of the religion.
Overall I think that this genre and frame presents a very one sided view of the religion. They are relatable to those who are Buddhist in the since that they are viral enough to be found on the top page of google for the memes, but they present no other outlook or insight in the religion for someone outside of the faith to understand anything other than the fact that all Buddhists are peaceful and secluded, because the main people depicted are monks, or extremely zealous figures in the community, who don't exactly represent the community as a whole just as Nuns don't in the Catholic community.
Link to memes
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