Saussurean Semiotic Analysis of Visual Meme Literal Wordplay
Abstract
This study analyzes the mechanisms of signifier-signified, arbitrariness, and humor in five literal wordplay visual memes in English (Butterfly, Catfish, Eggplant, Fireworks, and Bookworm) using a qualitative descriptive approach. The theoretical framework used is Ferdinand de Saussure’s semiotics and Victor Raskin’s Script-based Semantic Theory of Humor (SSTH). The results of the analysis indicate that visual literal wordplay memes reconstruct the relationship between signifier and signified through the visualization of a word’s literal meaning. This reinterpretation is made possible by the arbitrary nature of signs according to Saussure, who views the relationship between a word’s form and its meaning as conventional, not natural. Consequently, the conventional meaning of a word can be broken down into its literal form and visualized within the meme. This process then creates an incongruity between the literal visual meaning and conventional linguistic expectations, thereby producing a humorous effect. Thus, literal visual wordplay memes can be understood as a form of linguistic creativity that utilizes the flexibility of signs to produce alternative meanings that seem semantically absurd, but is structurally coherent.
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References
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.31004/jele.v11i4.2575
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