Memescape Narratives of Romanian Social Movements (2013-2021): A Framing Theory Perspective

Daniel Ungureanu

doi:10.14195/2183-5462_44_10

Autores/as

Daniel Ungureanu George Enescu National University of Arts

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14195/2183-5462_44_10

Palabras clave:

digital media, framing theory, memes, online social movements, sociopolitical debates

Resumen

In the digital age, social movements increasingly leverage memes to shape narratives and mobilize support. This study examines Romanian social movements through the lens of memes from 2013 to 2021, focusing on the Save Roșia Montană Campaign, the Colectiv nightclub fire protests, the #REZIST movement, and anti-restriction protests. Data were collected from popular Romanian Facebook meme pages and other online platforms. Applying framing theory, we seek to determine how memes identify issues, assign blame, propose solutions, and motivate participation. Our findings reveal that Romanian memes often criticize digital activism as superficial, remix mainstream cultural images, and use satire to challenge dominant narratives. This study underscores the potential of memes to reflect and influence public discourse and sociopolitical debates in Romania.

Descargas

Los datos de descargas todavía no están disponibles.

Citas

Adi, A. (2017). Protester profiles. In A. Adi & D. G. Lilleker (Eds.), #rezist – Romania’s 2017 anti-corruption protests: Causes, development and implications (pp. 51-57). Quadriga University of Applied Sciences.

Besliu, R. (2021, November 22). An effervescent wave: Romanian protests and political change. Eurozine. https://www.eurozine.com/an-effervescent-green-wave/.

Bonea, A. (2015, November 6). Protestul ‘CTRL ALT DEL’: Cum s-a văzut revolta românilor în presa străină. Playtech. https://playtech.ro/2015/protestul-ctrl-alt-del-cum-s-a-vazut-revolta-romanilor-in-presa-straina/.

Borțun, D., & Cheregi, B. (2017). Ideological meaning in the 2017 Romanian protests. In A. Adi & D. G. Lilleker (Eds.), #rezist – Romania’s 2017 anti-corruption protests: Causes, development and implications (pp. 18-23). Quadriga University of Applied Sciences.

Castells, M. (2012). Networks of outrage and hope – social movements in the Internet age. Polity Press.

Cel mai amplu protest din ultimii 25 de ani. (2017, February 1). Digi24. https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/evenimente/protest-1-februarie-guvern-adoptare-oug-coduri-penale-660631.

Chiţul, I. B., & Albu, R. G. (2013). Aspects regarding the use of Facebook within the hospitality industry – A case study in Romania. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov, 6(1), 97-102.

Choursia, M., & Sachdeva Suri, C. (2020). Memes related to COVID-19 on social media: A study. PalArch's Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 17(6), 2224-2236.

Cmeciu, C., & Coman, I. (2018). Twitter as a means of emotional coping and collective (re)framing of crises. Case study: The ‘Colectiv’ crisis in Romania. Social Communication, 2, 6-15. https://doi.org/10.2478/sc-2018-0011

College Liberal. (n.d.). Know Your Meme. Retrieved January 20, 2021, from https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/college-liberal#fn1.

Coman, I. (2021, March 29). Mii de persoane au protestat duminică seară împotriva noilor restricții în București și în alte mari orașe ale țării. Digi24. https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/mii-de-persoane-au-protestat-duminica-seara-impotriva-noilor-restrictii-in-bucuresti-si-in-alte-mari-orase-ale-tarii-1476545.

Creţan, R., & O’Brien, T. (2020). Corruption and conflagration: (In)justice and protest in Bucharest after the Colectiv fire. Urban Geography, 41(3), 368-388. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2019.1664252

Crişan, C. (2018). Romania's protest: From stakeholders in waiting to activists' becoming PR practitioners. In A. Adi (Ed.), Protest public relations: Communicating dissent and activism (pp. 185-204). Routledge.

Dadacus, L. (2013, September 3). Băsescu: Câinii vagabonzi au devenit o problemă naţională care trebuie rezolvată de guvern prin ordonanţă de urgenţă. ZF.ro. https://www.zf.ro/politica/basescu-cainii-vagabonzi-au-devenit-o-problema-nationala-care-trebuie-rezolvata-de-guvern-prin-ordonanta-de-urgenta-11290380

Daphi, P., Le, A., & Ullrich, P. (2013). Images of surveillance: The contested and embedded visual language of anti-surveillance protests. In N. Doerr, A. Mattoni, & S. Teune (Eds.), Advances in the visual analysis of social movements (pp. 55-80). Emerald Publishing.

Denisova, A. (2019). Internet memes and society: Social, cultural, and political contexts. Routledge.

Denisova, A. (2020). Internet Memes and Society: Social, Cultural, and Political Contexts. Routledge.

Discuțiile din online despre Roșia Montană continua: 10 000 mentionari in 24 de ore. (2013, September 17). Zelist. https://www.zelist.ro/blog/discutiile-din-online-despre-rosia-montana-continua-10-000-mentionari-in-24-de-ore/.

Edwards, F., Howard, P. N., & Joyce, M. (2013). Digital activism and non-violent conflict. SSRN Electronic Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2595115

Edwards, F., Howard, P. N., & Joyce, M. (2013). Digital Activism and NonnViolent Conflict. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2595115

Florescu, R. (2018, May 26). Florin Bădiţă, fondatorul ‘Corupţia ucide’, este ‘Personalitatea europeană a anului’ conform Euronews. Adevărul. https://adevarul.ro/locale/cluj-napoca/florin-badita-fondatorul-coruptia-ucide-personalitatea-europeana-anului-conform-euronews-1_5b09bc2bdf52022f7570949c/index.html.

Gal, N., Shifman, L., & Kampf, Z. (2016). ‘It gets better’: Internet memes and the construction of collective identity. New Media & Society, 18(8), 1698-1714. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814568784

George, J. J., & Leidner, D. E. (2019). From clicktivism to hacktivism: Understanding digital activism. Information and Organization, 29(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoandorg.2019.04.001

Grigoriu, A. (2016). Comunicarea în mediul online și impactul său social în incidentul de la Colectiv. Sfera Politicii, 187(1), 30-35.

Gubernat, R., & Rammelt, H. (2017). Anti-corruption protests in Romania from a perspective of social media mobilization efforts. Paper presented at SCOPE: Science of Politics - International Interdisciplinary Conference of Political Research, The University of Bucharest, Bucharest, 26-28 May 2017. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340478517_Anti-Corruption_Protests_in_Romania_from_a_perspective_of_Social_Media_mobilization_efforts.

Joyce, M. (2010). Digital activism decoded: the new mechanics of change. International Debate Education Association.

Maxim, I. (2013, September 19). Aurul, Roșia Montană si eficienta campaniilor de comunicare. IQads. https://www.iqads.ro/articol/26999/aurul-rosia-montana-si-eficienta-campaniilor-de-comunicare#.

Meyer, D. S., & Whittier, N. (1994). Social movement spillover. Social Problems, 41(2), 277–298. https://doi.org/10.2307/3096934

Milner, R. M. (2012). The world made meme: Discourse and identity in participatory media [Thesis].

Milner, R. M. (2013). Pop polyvocality: Internet memes, public participation, and the Occupy Wall Street movement. International Journal of Communication, 7, 2357-2390.

Milner, R. M. (2016). The world made meme : public conversations and participatory media. The Mit Press.

Mutsvairo, B. (2018). Digital Activism in the Social Media Era Critical Reflections on Emerging Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cham Springer International Publishing Palgrave Macmillan.

Necula, F. (2012, June 16). Maia Morgenstern, intr-o reclama terifianta pentru Salvati Roșia Montană. Ziare.com. https://ziare.com/rosia-montana/stiri-rosia-montana/maia-morgenstern-intr-o-reclama-terifianta-pentru-salvati-rosia-montana-video-1173332.

Niculescu, L. (2019). The right to protest - A constitutional right exercised on the fringe of law. In Proceedings of European Integration - Realities and Perspectives (pp. 43-47). Galati: Danubius University Press.

Nissenbaum, A., & Shifman, L. (2018). Meme Templates as Expressive Repertoires in a Globalizing World: A Cross-Linguistic Study. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 23(5), 294–310. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmy016

Papacharissi, Z., & Oliveira, M. d. F. (2012). Affective news and networks publics: The rhythms of news storytelling on #Egypt. Journal of Communication, 62(2), 266-282. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01630.x.

Pătruț, M. (2017). A #Col(l)ectiv(e) Romanian tragedy. A case study on social media fighting corruption. Broad Research in Accounting, Negotiation, and Distribution, 8(1), 38-46.

Patrut, M., & Stoica, V. (2019). Romanian Rezist protest. How Facebook helps fight political corruption. Revista de cercetare și intervenție socială, 66, 214-232. https://doi.org/10.33788/rcis.66.13

Păun, C. (2017, January 22). Romanians protest government plan to commute sentences. Politico. https://www.politico.eu/article/romanians-protest-government-plan-to-commute-sentences/.

Poell, T., & van Dijck, J. (2015). Social media and activist communication. In C. Atton (Ed.), The Routledge companion to alternative and community media (pp. 527-537). Routledge.

Popescu, A. (2021, March 29). Proteste anti-restricţii în 24 de oraşe. Jandarmii dau amenzi în valoare de 100.000 de lei. The Epoch Times. https://epochtimes-romania.com/news/proteste-anti-restrictii-in-24-de-orase-jandarmii-dau-sute-de-amenzi-in-valoare-de-100-000-de-lei---312806.

Proteste în țară față de noile restricții anti-COVID. (2021, March 29). Agerpres. https://www.agerpres.ro/social/2021/03/29/proteste-in-tara-fata-de-noile-restrictii-anti-covid-grupaj--687244.

Senatoarea Șoșoacă face show la protestul antimască din Piața Victoriei pe piesa ‘Another brick in the wall’ de la Pink Floyd. (2021, March 20). G4Media. https://www.g4media.ro/video-senatoarea-sosoaca-face-show-la-protestul-antimasca-din-piata-victoriei-pe-piesa-another-brick-in-the-wall-de-la-pink-floyd.html.

Shifman, L. (2014). Memes in digital culture. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Sutu, R. M. (2018). Religion and political system. Representation of The Romanian Orthodox Church in the media coverage of the ‘Colectiv’ incident. Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, 17(51), 100-114.

Turner, R. H., & Killian, L. M. (1987). Collective behavior. Prentice Hall.

Ungureanu, D. (2022). Digital Memories: the Romanian Memes Take on the COVID-19 Lockdown. Quaestiones Romanicae, IX(3), 367–375. https://doi.org/10.35923/qr.09.03.32

Varis, P., & Blommaert, J. (2015). Conviviality and collectives on social media: Virality, memes, and new social structures. Multilingual Margins, 2(1).

Weident, M. (2021, March 21). COVID-19: Europenii, tot mai nemulţumiţi de restricţii, ies în stradă. Dw. https://www.dw.com/ro/covid-19-europenii-tot-mai-nemul%C5%A3umi%C5%A3i-de-restric%C5%A3ii-ies-%C3%AEn-strad%C4%83/a-56943390.

Wiggins, B. (2017). Digital dispatches from the 2016 US election: Popular culture intertextuality and media power. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 13(1), 197–205. https://doi.org/10.1386/macp.13.1-2.197_7