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In this paper, we analyze “Gangnam Style” re-makes from a memetic point of view. Our examination unfolds in three parts. First, we present our conceptual framework, according to which Internet memes constitute forms of interpretive (and potentially also political) participation. We then focus our discussion on the case of “Gangnam Style”, in an att...
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... I will explain the content and meaning of the Ulyanovsk parody, and why it could be construed as a source of threat. I will achieve this through the analysis of musical parodic content (Shifman 2014;Lyan et al. 2015;Covach 2005;Burns 1987;Kasha & Hirschhorn 1979;etc) and the contemporary cultural (axiological) situation in Russia (Scheff 2006;Sánchez et al. 2009;Pikulicka-Wilczewska & Sakwa 2015;Muravyeva 2014;Höjdestrand 2017;Novitskaya 2017;Patriotic Mobilisation in Russia 2018;Kolstø & Blakkisrud 2018;etc). A thorough examination of this kind will enable us to find an explanation for the Russian contemporary cultural context. ...
... Their video started a series of viral reinterpretations, like the Gangnam style video, e.g. "Mitt Romney Style", "NASA Johnson Style", "Egyptian Style", and many others (Shifman 2014;Lyan et al. 2015). ...
... Once it was on the internet, the parody made by the Ulyanovsk cadets began to function as a post-folklore (internet-folklore 8 ) work of art (Nekludov 1995;Nekludov 2002;etc.) and meme (Shifman 2014;Lyan et al. 2015). It was transmitted (shared), commented (comment), had apolitical content and became the basis for the unravelling of the plot and imitation. ...
This article arose from the scandal which broke out in Russia in 2018, when Ulyanovsk cadets made an amateur video clip parodying the Benny Benassi’s musical video (2003). Soon, this video had more than a million views. But official Russian media sharply reproached the cadets’ performance, and even Russian authorities discussed the video. The Russian Internet community issued a lot of videos in support of the cadets. The reaction of Russian media on the cadets’ parody was mainly strong and not always adequate. I am interested in the reasons behind the fear of parody because, in my opinion, the official discourse had nothing to fear. My analysis is based on the Russian theories of parody and the medieval cultural experience. Can parody be dangerous? Why did the official media overreact?
... Academic literature on global humor and remix culture (Bourriaud, 2002;Boxman-Shabtai & Shifman, 2016;Kramer, 2013;Kun, 2005Kun, , 2015Shifman, Levy, & Thelwall, 2014;Sinnreich, 2010), and on dealing with Arabic humor and politics (Abd al-Hamid, 2003;Elsayed, 2016Elsayed, , 2018Elsayed & Zidani, 2020;Wedeen, 2013) rarely converse with one another (Al-Ghazzi, 2018;Lyan, Zidani, & Shifman, 2015). ...
... Beginning in 2012, I took an active role in seven Korea Days, contributing in various areas from managing logistics to giving lectures about Korea. This led me and my colleagues to focus more on fan activism-specifically, fans who pursue the promotion of hallyu and Korea in their countries as a mission(Lyan & Levkovitz, 2015a, 2015bLyan, Zidani, & Shifman, 2015;Otmazgin & Lyan, 2014. Finally, from 2017 to 2018, during another aca-fan experience, I taught a course on Korean popular culture and had the opportunity to interact directly with fan-students on the subject of their fandom.For the current study, my research assistant conducted interviews in 2017 with 14 women and two men of about 35 students in the Korean studies program. ...
With the increasing appeal of Korean popular culture known as the Korean Wave or hallyu, fans in Israel among Korean studies students have joined—and even replaced—ethnic Koreans in performing nationalism beyond South Korea’s borders, creating what I call hallyu fan-nationalism. As an unintended consequence of hallyu, such nationalism enables non-Korean hallyu fans to take on the empowering roles of cultural experts, educators, and even cultural ambassadors to promote Korea abroad. The symbolic shift from diasporic to hallyu nationalism brings to the fore nonnationalist, nonessentialist, and transcultural perspectives in fandom studies. In tracing the history of Korea Day from the 2000s to the 2010s, I found that hallyu fan-students are mobilized both by the macro mission to promote a positive image of Korea in their home societies and by the micro motivation to repair their own, often stigmatized, self-image.
While the overall majority of Hallyu research has looked at the way fans consume Korean popular culture and how it influences their identity, this paper focuses on the way these fans serve as effective agents for marketing Hallyu and how their fandom empowers them to explore new business and social opportunities. Focusing on what we call "fan entrepreneurship, " this paper examines the evolvement of fan communities in Israel and their role as cultural agents transcending different cultural and social contexts. More specifically, it analyzes their role as promoters, distributers, and entrepreneurs of Hallyu. To examine fan entrepreneurship in action, we focus on three cases of Israeli Hallyu fans who have ventured into new fields in business, education, and social activism to conceptualize the relations between fandom, agency, and the transnational marketing of Hallyu. Our findings suggest that the Hallyu experience in Israel may be relevant for understanding the grassroots processes and mechanisms responsible for the spread and the institutionalization of cultural content across national, ethnic, and linguistic boundaries.
While the overall majority of Hallyu research has looked at the way fans consume Korean popular culture and how it influences their identity, this paper focuses on the way these fans serve as effective agents for marketing Hallyu and how their fandom empowers them to explore new business and social opportunities. Focusing on what we call "fan entrepreneurship, " this paper examines the evolvement of fan communities in Israel and their role as cultural agents transcending different cultural and social contexts. More specifically, it analyzes their role as promoters, distributers, and entrepreneurs of Hallyu. To examine fan entrepreneurship in action, we focus on three cases of Israeli Hallyu fans who have ventured into new fields in business, education, and social activism to conceptualize the relations between fandom, agency, and the transnational marketing of Hallyu. Our findings suggest that the Hallyu experience in Israel may be relevant for understanding the grassroots processes and mechanisms responsible for the spread and the institutionalization of cultural content across national, ethnic, and linguistic boundaries.
Dijital ortamlarda bireylerin ve/veya toplulukların, "kendini ifade etme"nin mizahi bir biçimi olarak ürettiği "internet mem"leri, son yıllarda akademisyenler arasında dünya çapında ilgi uyandırmıştır. Sayısı günden güne artmakta olan mem çalışmaları, dijital bir kültür nesnesi olarak memlerin, internet-ortamlı iletişimde oynadığı etkin rolü gözler önüne sermektedir. Bu çalışma, içinde bulunduğumuz yeni medya çağında bir internet fenomeni olarak ortaya çıkmış olan, kullanıcılar tarafından oluşturulmuş içerikler olarak internet memlerine ilişkin alanyazına odaklanmayı amaçlamıştır. Bu bağlamda, internet mem tanımları, özellikleri ve memlerle ilişkili olarak tartışılagelen diğer konular ele alınmıştır. Türkiye'de mem çalışmalarına ilişkin var olan olanaklara da değinen çalışmanın, Türkiye'deki internet-ortamlı mem çalışmalarına katkı sağlayacağı umulmaktadır.
Internet memes, generated as a humorous mode of "self-expression" by individuals and communities in digital spheres, have received scholarly attention across the globe in recent years. An increasing number of studies on Internet memes show that memes as digital cultural artifacts play a significant role in Internet-mediated communication. This study aims to focus on the international literature on Internet memes as user-generated content that has emerged as an Internet phenomenon in the age of new media. In this regard, the definitions and attributes of Internet memes and other related discussions are addressed. The study also searches for potentialities of meme studies in Turkey, with the anticipation of contributing to the aforementioned studies.
