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Meme

An image, video, or text that is shared and modified extensively by users in digital spaces, giving rise to a rich body of derivatives
Shweta Khilnani 2025-03-14

Explication

The term “meme” was coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976 in the final chapter of the book The Selfish Gene. Dawkins proposed the term meme as an example of how a replicator could function in the same way as DNA. He defined it as the name for a “new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation” (249). The term was intended to rhyme with the word ‘gene’ and conveys a similar ability to be replicated and imitated. For Dawkins, this was a part of a “larger effort to apply evolutionary theory to cultural change” (Shifman 9).

The term became popular within the framework of digital or electronic texts, where it refers to any item such as a video, image or written text which is shared repeatedly by people on the internet, making it go ‘viral’ in the process. At the same time, people often modify or remix the content of such items, resulting in the production of countless derivatives which are socially, culturally and politically contextual. Due to these features, memes have been identified as key examples of postmodern digital poetics and third generation electronic literature (Flores).

Owing to their replicability and rapid circulation, memes are often studied within the rubric of participatory cultures in the digital realm. They are also characterized by their intertextuality as they refer to other memes and are embedded within a complex mesh of information and ideas. In the recent past, memes have played an instrumental role in the articulation of several digital narratives. For instance, memes were employed extensively during the 2016 US Presidential Elections to share grassroot political ideas (Moody-Ramirez and Church). They were also used extensively to shape popular digital narratives during the coronavirus pandemic (Saint Laurent et al.).

Memes have been studied as a “secondary layer of language” in digital spaces, engendering new forms of memetic participation (Shifman). Critics have also studied the peculiar semiotic practices inherent in memes and how these express ideological practices (Wiggins).

See Also

  • Intertextuality - Relationship between texts, where a text references, alludes to, or is influenced by another text, enriching the reader's understanding and interpretation
  • Participatory Narrative - Form of storytelling that actively involves the audience in the creation or progression of the narrative, often facilitated by digital platforms that enable collaboration and interaction
  • Multimodality - The integration of multiple modes of communication and expression, such as text, image, sound, and interactivity, to create rich, layered experiences
  • Remix - Recombination of existing media elements to create new works, highlighting issues of authorship, originality, and copyright in the digital age

Works Referenced

De Saint Laurent, Constance, Vlad P. Glăveanu, and Ioana Literat. “Internet Memes as Partial Stories: Identifying Political Narratives in Coronavirus Memes.” Social Media + Society, vol. 7, no. 1, Jan. 2021, n.p. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305121988932

Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press, 1989.

Flores, Leonardo. “Third Generation Electronic Literature.” Electronic Literature as Digital Humanities: Contexts, Forms, and Practice, edited by Dene Grigar and James O’Sullivan, Bloomsbury Academic, 2021, pp. 27-42.

Moody-Ramirez, Mia and Andrew B. Church. “Analysis of Facebook Meme Group Used During the 2016 US Presidential Elections.” Social Media + Society, vol. 5, no. 1, Jan. 2019, n.p. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118808799

Shifman, Limor. Memes in Digital Culture. MIT Press, 2014.

Wiggins, Bradley E. The Discursive Power of Memes in Digital Culture: Ideology, Semiotics and Intertexuality. Routledge, 2019.

Further Reading

Skains, R. Lyle. Neverending Stories: The Popular Emergence of Digital Fiction. Bloomsbury Academic, 2023

Frazer, Ryan, and Bronwyn Carlson. “Indigenous Memes and the Invention of a People.” Social Media + Society, vol. 3, no. 4, Oct. 2017, n.p. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117738993.

Breuer, Adam, and Alastair Iain Johnston. “Memes, Narratives and the Emergent US–China Security Dilemma.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs, vol. 32, no. 4, July 2019, pp. 429–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/09557571.2019.1622083.

Cite This

Shweta Khilnani. "Meme." The Living Glossary of Digital Narrative, 2025. https://glossary.cdn.uib.no/terms/meme

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