[Ray Kyooyung Ra, Blog #9/15] Know Your Meme

A light blog this week, nothing too cranky. I was just contemplating on what 'memes' are, exactly, what with the blog discussion on the "overly capacious" definition of the (pre-)internet phenomenon. While memes are considered to be image, video, slogan, or idea that is circulated via retextualization, remixing, and redistribution in Donovan, Dreyfuss, and Freidberg's work -- perhaps too fluid a definition to be used in distinguishing meme from non-meme representation, as Dalia noted -- colloquial digital culture does draw a boundary of literacy and signification to memes.

I digitally meander at times the knowyourmeme.com database for my personal amusement (along with tvtropes.org, but that's worthy of another blog post for another course and week entirely), as well as for updating myself on pop culture knowledge. This community seems to really take memes and their system of signification seriously, with their entries on memes that are "under research," discussion forums, and even newsletters. The founder, Andrew Baron, had noted the 'genetic' quality of memes as well, much like Donovan, Dreyfuss, and Freidberg: "Like a gene, a meme has intrinsic properties that can be passed on from one generation to the next. As a science, memetics is the study of how ideas spread through our world. By examining memes, we can identify patterns and sequences that help us predict how certain ideas may fair in popular culture." Knowing the history of accumulated knowledge behind memes seems to be a crucial part of media literacy these days. I recommend this website if you, like me, desperately need to distract yourself from work.