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The Ethnology Notebooks. 2025. № 5 (185), 1288—1298

UDK[398.332.416:398.8](=161.2)”2022/2024″:801.81 

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

THE VERBAL COMPONENT OF MEMES AS A PHENOMENON OF FOLKLORE

ZAVADSKA Viktoriia

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6411-4926
  • Ph. D. in philological sciences, Associate Professor
  • of the Department of Ukrainian Language, Literature and Culture,
  • Faculty of Linguistics, National Technical University of Ukraine
  • «Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute», 
  • 37, Beresteyskyi Avenue, 03056, Kyiv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: ptits@ukr.net

Abstract. The aim of the article is to analyze memes as a folklore phenomenon, that is, to focus on their verbal component; to find out what contributes to their creation and spread, and whether a meme can exist for more than one decade, like any other folklore work.

The article considers memes as a genre of folklore, focusing primarily on the verbal component of memes, which is the subject of the study. The author attempts to prove that the proverbs now incorporated into memes were part of folklore before, and that their acquisition of connotative meaning is linked to current events, while the traditional structure of the meme expression remains unchanged. The collective nature of perception, the disregard for authorship and variability, the use of fixed verbal formulas that are recognizable within society — all this is the evidence of the folkloric nature of memes. Three essential components that make an expression a meme and contribute to its spread are examined in detail: knowledge of the prototext and awareness of the current situation, which is the key to deciphering the connotative meaning by the recipients; a structure of expression traditional for the language community with the possibility of «language play»; emotionality based on aphorism, antithesis, irony, sarcasm, etc. 

The author argues that the rise of visual elements in modern memes reflects a natural human tendency to visualize the verbal content. In traditional culture, rituals served as a visual expression of spoken or written words. Today, as information spreads through digital networks, images have taken on this role, effectively visualizing and reinforcing the accompanying text. The methodology of the article is based on analytical interpretation methods.

Keywords: memes, meme expressions, war memes, Ukrainian memes, folklore.

Received 30.08.2025

REFERENCES

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