Ioana Literat
Memes in the Time of Corona: An Autoethnographic Visual Essay on Memes as Relational Resources during the COVID-19 Pandemic
More than just humorous online content, memes fulfill significant affective, sociocultural and political functions at both the individual and collective level. Analyzing personally significant COVID-19 memes within their larger communication contexts, this autoethnographic visual essay illuminates these digital artifacts as vibrant relational resources that facilitate sense-making and social connection in uncertain times. Examining these dynamics at different levels of inquiry (micro, meso and macro) and across various contexts (personal, professional, and mixes thereof), this essay therefore illustrates how, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, these memetic articulations—and the conversations they engendered—helped me look within, relate, and ultimately pull through.
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