Locating Fun in Confrontation: Decoding the Pakistan-India Meme War through Critical Discourse Analysis

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ID: 312116
2025
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Abstract
Memes are not just for comedy and entertainment purpose rather they have become a powerful tool for ideological conflict, political discourse and cultural display. Pakistan and India, memes have become a lively participant for reflecting national sentiments during times of heightened political instability. An analytical study is conducted to analyze the role of memes in shaping socio-political contention during online tension between Pakistan and India. Through the application of innovative method of Norman Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional (3D) Discourse Analysis model, exploring how digital media as exemplified by memes function as a tool of communication, beyond humor to express nationalistic ideologies and historical dissatisfaction. We selected a group of memes shared by Pakistani and Indian users during the period of political conflict and analyzed them using Fairclough’s framework. The critical examination was conducted at three levels, textual analysis which includes examining words, language and metaphor, secondly discursive practice, the exploration of production and circulation of memes and lastly social practice which analyzes the broader sociopolitical situations that give them meaning. Memes contain political messages connected to history. The results depict that memes embody sociopolitical narratives rooted in historical conflicts. Comedy memes use humor, metaphor and strong nationalist rhetoric while reflecting user-driven participation in shaping narratives. The discursive practices show rapid meme circulation that directly responds to unfolding political events, while the social practices underscore the reinforcement of dominant national beliefs. The study demonstrates that memes are not trivial entertainment but dynamic instruments of digital discourse.
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imported_1776681170_69e600d27fc1e Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Sumaira Noor
Journal Social Sciences & Humanity Research Review
Year 2025
DOI
10.63468/sshrr.310
URL
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