Shape or Meaning: Meme Classification
What does a meme consist of? By the name of the article it is already clear that of the meaning (idea) and shape (form). Well, this is quite true, and it would seem that this is enough, but in order to accurately understand all the nuances, you need to deal with the semantics of the meme, its types, and characteristics. Although my articles focus primarily on Internet memes and memeology, in order to understand the classification, it is necessary to first analyze the concept of meme itself, starting with memetics. Simple Memetics To be honest, I am not fond of the generalizing nature of memetics, as well as the wording “unit of cultural information”. With all the diversity of cultural phenomena, it is almost impossible to single out the criteria of any "unit", even considering its abstract origin. Personally, I interpret this study as a theory about ideas and their spread in society. Memetics should not ignore the ways of disseminating cultural information studied by