Memes: A Social and Cultural History
Date
2-13-2024
Faculty Mentor
Paul Beezley, History & Foreign Language
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Files
Submission Type
Conference Proceeding
Location
1:30-1:40pm | Houston Cole Library, 11th Floor
Description
The word meme has assumed the conversations and social behavior of every individual living in the twenty-first century. Despite its widespread use in conversation, and regardless of what medium people may use, many don’t truly know what a meme even is. When its origin is traced it originates with noted atheist apologist Richard Dawkins in one of his works during the 1970s. His definition fits very closely with one of the two definitions found in the Oxford English Dictionary. By this definition memes have existed for all of recorded history, though not in their modern understanding. The other definition, which fits most closely to how most people would describe the word today, can be seen appearing in the world in the early 1900s. From there it goes through several evolutions or eras all slightly adding to the word until we get the recognizable meme we see today. The changing of the form can be viewed not just through the lens of simple categorical history, but of culture history as well. The changing of forms that memes took matches closely with the shifts in culture that were going on during each time. Mass connectedness, a search for a universal language, and explosion of rapid and extreme individualism are all themes seen at the most recent turn of the century which is where the expansion and morphing of memes truly began. Today memes have become important on a level the average person doesn't realize. From the universality of its use, to the evaluation of them en masse, memes have become pivotal to modern life in a way similar to the dawn of the telephone or newspaper were. Thus a deep and in depth history reveals all the complexities hidden behind the word “meme”.
Keywords
student research, history
Rights
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Disciplines
History
Recommended Citation
Richardson, Hayden, "Memes: A Social and Cultural History" (2024). JSU Student Symposium 2024. 51.
https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/ce_jsustudentsymp_2024/51