Deconstructing Myths Via Humor: A Semiotic Analysis of Philippine Political Internet Memes

Abstract

The study is a qualitative-descriptive analysis of 12 randomly selected Philippine political internet memes. Utilizing Berger’s (2004) Semiotic Theory of Humor and Barthes’s (1991) concept of myth, the study examined how the humorous signifiers in the political internet memes deconstruct dominant political ideologies of modern (Philippine) society which appear natural and normal. Findings revealed that contrasts and binary oppositions in both images and captions portraying code violations are the humorous signifiers in the memes. Humor in the memes is basically aggressive, as it ridicules and satirizes representatives of power, the political elite, for their undesirable qualities and practices which are in stark contrast with (or violations of) the righteous and moralistic slogan of the present administration, that is, ‘Daang Matuwid.’ Through the internet memes, the belief that a new administration can be a ‘messiah’ who can save the masses from their present sorry condition is deconstructed. As the analysis shows, humor in the internet memes exposes some political ideological constructs which are naturalized or normalized in the Philippine society. Through humor, such ideologies are unmasked and the public is brought to awareness of what is really behind seemingly normal or natural events in the Philippine political arena. This means that Filipino humor, apart from being a mere expression of fun and entertainment, has the potential to express dissent especially against some ills in the society. Recommendations for future research are included.