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By drawing on meme genres identified by Shifman (2012) and analyzing techniques used to frame ideas concerning religion in memes, this study identifies common genres found amongst religious Internet meme and core frames used to present messages and assumptions about religion online. Internet memes about religion are defined as, ‘memes circulated on the Internet whose images and texts focus on a variety of religious themes and/or religious traditions’ (Bellar et al., 2013). This article investigates the dominant messages Internet memes communicate about religion. Sebagian lainnya dibuat dengan menambahkan unsur humor atau lelucon pada setiap cerita yang terdapat pada meme-meme tersebut. Sebagian konten-konten yang dijadikan internet meme gambar dibuat secara serius atau tidak menggunakan humor dan secara tidak serius. Penyampaian pendapat dipresentasikan dalam bentuk meme gambar, yang berisi sindiran atau satir. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Internet memes menjadi sarana menyampaikan pendapat dan kritik terhadap praktik politik para politikus di Indonesia, dengan memperbincangkan masalah sosial yang populer. Penelitian ini dilandasi oleh konsep internet memes dikemukakan oleh Shifman (2014:7), yaitu form, content, dan stance.
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Untuk mempelajari penggunaan internet memes yang memperbincangkan isu sosial menjelang Pemilihan Presiden 2019, maka dilakukan penelitian menggunakan metode penelitian kualitatif analisis isi deskriptif. Perbincangan tersebut terepresentasikan dalam akun Instagram salah satu komunitas internet memes terbesar di Indonesia. Menjelang pemilihan presiden tahun 2019, masyarakat Indonesia menggunakan isu sosial dalam konteks perbincangan politik.
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By examining memes centered on American Christianity, this study reveals that memetic narratives in the early months of the pandemic indicate a positive framing of behaviors intended to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, and a negative framing of the attitudes of religious individuals and organizations who seem to privilege the cultural practices of their belief over the core values of the Christian faith. Memes became a discursive space where practices of social distancing and religious attitudes towards these practices were expressed and debated. Over time, social distancing has become a widely used public health strategy impacting many social groups, including religious adherents and their places of worship.
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As the year progressed, social distancing discourse was combined with discussion of the practices of masking and quarantining, all of which became part of many countries’ normal routines as a public health management strategy. In March 2020, many people were introduced to the concept of “social distancing” for the first time via news reports and media coverage of the spreading COVID-19 pandemic which led to the first lockdown. This article examines the emotive narratives surrounding the “new normal” of social distancing practices during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, as revealed by religion-focused Internet memes. Overall, we argue religious-political memes showcase the dissonance created by mixing religion and politics in public discourse online, especially when meme messages representing conservative Christianity suggest they speak for all of American religious culture. This is highly problematic as it presents religion in broad brushstrokes that fail to acknowledge the diversity of religious communities and their responses to politics within American cultural discourse. Drawing on previous research of the dominant genres of religious memes and ways they frame religion, we find religious-political memes enact distinct strategies of political God Talk where religious discourse is read through a political lens, and vice versa. This challenges previous research suggesting religious memetic discourse primarily promotes a view of “lived religion,” or personalized interpretations of traditional religious beliefs and practices. Overwhelmingly, these memes evoke what is known as “Civil Religion,” where religion becomes a tool to interpret politics, with roots in nationalist ideologies. Based on a study of 150 Internet memes of political candidates and core issues framed by religious discourse, and a case study of memes focused on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, we investigated the distinct understanding of what constitutes religion that arises. This article explores the interrelationship between religion and politics as presented through memetic discourse surrounding the 2016 presidential election.