Internet Meme as a Creolized Text

Abstract

The study looks at the internet meme which is a popular internet phenomenon. Internet memes are essential part of English internet communication. They comprise two components which are a verbal component and a graphic component. The study presents an attempt to analyze internet memes as a creolized text. According to a distinguished Russian scholar E.E. Anisimova, a creolized text is a complex text, in which verbal and iconic elements form one visual, structural, semantic and functional unity which is aimed at pragmatic influence on the recipient. The research shows that the internet meme is an original example of creolized texts. The unique nature of internet memes is motivated by functioning on the internet, that is why internet memes are engaged in many different processes taking place in internet communication. Internet communication inevitably change not only the formal, but also the semantic level of internet texts. As the internet meme as a creolized text can adapt to the conditions of internet communicaton, the nature of internet meme differs a lot from that of traditional creolized texts.