Internet-memes and everyday-creativity

This study focuses on internet-memes and proposes a shift of stances in which to understand the phenomenon – from one based on memetics to one based on everyday-creativity and the aesthetics of postmodernism. In order to substantiate this shift, the following question is addressed: In which ways are internet-memes creative and not simply memetic? A selection of internet-memes is then analyzed in their semiotic and discourse attributes with focus on their aesthetic characteristics. The study concludes that through agency and sociability, the composition of internet-memes entails much more than simple imitation. It involves using familiar ideas and previous knowledge in order to make creative unfamiliar combinations; appropriating, remixing and then recontextualizing different elements into novel, amusing, unexpected, and often humorous ways, thus creating something original out of something that has been copied. In sum, internet-memes are a result of individuals playing creatively with memetic elements within the aesthetics of postmodernism.