Means of Creating Humorous Effects in Internet Memes

The subject of the research is the means of creating a humorous effect in internet memes. The object of the research is Russian-language internet memes circulating in the Russian segment of the internet space. Particular attention is paid to the polycodality and multimodality of memes, which determine the interaction of various sign systems and the formation of multi-layered comic meanings. The study examines various rhetorical and stylistic means of creating a humorous effect in internet memes, such as puns, occasionalisms, metaphor, allegory, hyperbole, personification, antithesis, and the effect of violated expectations. Intertextual connections, cultural codes, and playful elements that provide variable models of humor perception are also considered. The methodology of the research is based on rhetorical-stylistic and linguo-semiotic analysis. Methods of multimodal and discourse analysis are used to identify the interaction of textual and visual components in the polycode constructions of internet memes. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the study of the internet meme as a polycode text in internet discourse, combining verbal and visual components to create a multi-layered humorous effect. It has been revealed that the key characteristic of memes is intertextuality, manifested through the use of recognizable textual and visual templates. The polycodality of internet memes determines the multimodality of rhetorical and stylistic means of creating humor, including lexico-semantic techniques, visual tropes, and expressive figures. Visual means form figurative comparisons and associative connections, enhancing comic perception, while expressive techniques organize the comic structure of the statement, emphasize semantic contrasts, and create paradoxical situations. The leading means of creating humor in internet memes is multimodal metaphor. Thus, internet memes represent a powerful tool of humorous internet communication, combining irony, satire, and absurdity.

internet meme, humor, comic effect, polycodality, multimodality, irony, tropes, stylistic devices, intertextuality, rhetorical-stylistic strategies