Appreciation of Black Humour Memes in the Context of the Russo-Ukrainian War

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This study examines three black humour memes and their reception on social media during the 2022 Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It seeks to identify the conditions that facilitate or impede the appreciation of jokes about the enemy’s death. Conceptual integration theory and Bandura’s social cognitive theory of moral agency provide the methodological framework for analysing the memes, and the responses to them. The findings offer an explanatory model for understanding when aggressive jokes are well-received or rejected. Successful humour transactions often involve humourists providing cues that encourage viewers to deactivate empathy towards the joke’s target. These cues may include euphemistic labelling, dehumanisation, or shared conventions about the consequences of the humour. Such triggers align with Bandura’s patterns of moral disengagement. The interaction between these triggers and the background knowledge of the audience can either lead to the appreciation of the humour or a conflict of values that results in the joke being dismissed. Humour is generally well-received when both the humourists and the audience agree on the need to undermine the power of the target and believe in the delivery of retribution for perceived wrongs. Conversely, if the target is perceived as valiant or vulnerable, the humour is often rejected as offensive or in poor taste.