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Brexit Memes Brexit: Exploring Discourses of the Brexit Negotiations Through Social Media Visuals

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Brexit Memes Brexit: Exploring Discourses of the Brexit Negotiations Through Social Media Visuals Brexit Memes Brexit: Exploring discourses of the Brexit negotiations through social media visuals Joanne Findlay Malmö University Media and Communications Studies MA Thesis 2019 1 Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3 2. Research Questions ........................................................................................................................ 4 3. Literature Review ............................................................................................................................ 4 3.1 Social Media and Participatory Culture ........................................................................................ 5 3.2 Meme Studies ............................................................................................................................... 6 3.3 Features of Memes ....................................................................................................................... 7 3.4 Discourse Theory........................................................................................................................... 9 3.5 Discourses of Brexit ....................................................................................................................... 9 4. Research Paradigms .................................................................................................................. 12 4.1 Interpretivism .......................................................................................................................... 12 4.2 Semiotics & Representations .................................................................................................. 13 5. Research Method .......................................................................................................................... 14 5.1 Pilot Study ................................................................................................................................... 15 5.2 Collecting the data ...................................................................................................................... 15 5.3 Analysing the data ....................................................................................................................... 17 6. Ethical Issues ................................................................................................................................. 18 6.1 Role of the Researcher .......................................................................................................... 19 7. Key Findings .................................................................................................................................. 19 8. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 27 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 28 News articles ..................................................................................................................................... 31 Websites ........................................................................................................................................... 31 Appendix 1: Explanatory Data for Selection of Images......................................................................... 31 Appendix 2: Visuals of Brexit Negotiations– data for analysis.............................................................. 32 2 Abstract This thesis seeks to analyse a critical juncture in the aftermath of the Brexit vote; Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations. This was a highly contentious time for politics in the UK, eventually leading to an extension on the initial deadline being granted and May’s resignation from the post of Prime Minister. By examining these negotiations through the lens of user-generated memes, the researcher finds a contemporary way to understand the interactive role citizens play in contributing to political discourse. This thesis asks how such discourses are playing out over social media visuals, and in turn, which symbols are being utilized to reflect these discourses. After a thorough investigation of the symbolism at play, ranging from flags to diversity, the researcher concludes that memes make a valuable and creative contribution to political discourse, and should not be disregarded as facetious; indeed their humour allows a fresh take on a serious issue. This thesis takes inspiration from a Research Methodology assignment written as a pilot for this study, entitled, “Exploring discourses of the Brexit negotiations through social media visuals: A visual analysis and discussion of research methods”. 1. Introduction The British public voted to leave the European Union on the 23rd June 2016, by 52% to 48%, in a referendum with a relatively high turnout of 72%. This sparked a period of political turmoil wherein the Prime Minister of the time resigned. Successor Theresa May then triggered article 50 in 2017, beginning the countdown of a two year negotiation period, with a deadline of 29th March 2019 to leave the European Union. This thesis focusses on what could be considered a ‘crunch’ period – the so-called ‘final’ negotiations leading up to the initial ‘Brexit’ (or British exit from the European Union) date and then the week immediately following this date. During this period, possible options for Brexit were debated; including the so-called ‘customs union’ approach where Britain remains in the European trading arena; a ‘hard’ Brexit where Britain leaves the EU without a deal and a ‘People’s Vote’ wherein the electorate are given the opportunity to vote again on whether they want to remain in or leave the EU. In spite of the deadline, Theresa May failed to negotiate a deal that was acceptable to parliament, and instead another extension was granted from the European Union, giving the British government until 31st October 2019 to negotiate a deal (BBC News, 2019). Characterised by political instability, a divided public and general chaos, the decision from the UK electorate to leave the European Union has dominated every form of communication, from print journalism to conversations between neighbours, since long before the referendum took place. Although many angles are yet to be explored on this all-encompassing topic, this thesis will concern itself with the portrayal of the discourses of the Brexit negotiations. A time period has been selected 3 of between January and April 2019, to reflect the initial deadline for Brexit. User-generated visuals will be examined from unofficial social media pages and groups, to share insight as to public discourses. The content of social media visuals or ‘memes’ will be explored to uncover which themes and symbolism are being utilized and how memes are used to reflect the discourses of Brexit. The findings will be categorized into three over-arching themes; firstly ideas surrounding identities as I examine Britishness and Europeanness defined in contrast. The second finding is related to usage of characters of the Brexit negotiations, and how images of politicians are used to signify different political stances. The third finding gives overarching reflections on a discourse of whiteness and a male-dominated viewpoint. My fourth finding relates to commentary on the perspectives of the Brexit negotiations. These findings allow me to conclude that symbols including flags, personas and militaristic themes are used to reflect ideas around Britain as a nation state and the European Union. I will also conclude that the discourses of social media visuals are as divided and complex as the real life discourses around Brexit, making them a creative and reflective topic for study. 2. Research Questions The research questions for this study are as follows: How are discourses of the Brexit negotiations portrayed on social media through images? A secondary element of this question is therefore Which symbols are utilized to reflect the discourses of the Brexit negotiations? 3. Literature Review My project sits within several theoretical areas. Firstly, by examining social media and participatory culture, this thesis will set the backdrop for examining user-generated content. I will then move on to specifically examining meme studies to gain an understanding of the key features of social media visuals, with a more in-depth look at the features of a meme. This will lead to a discussion of discourse theory, symbolism and iconography, to assist in analysing visuals. I will then move on to analysing the Discourses of Brexit, giving focus to Euroscepticism, the nation state, a public divided, populism and Brexit as a crisis. These themes will shape and contextualise my research at the data analysis stage. 4 3.1 Social Media and Participatory Culture In this section, I will seek to explain how social media enables public discourses to play out by looking specifically at the affordances of social media and how it differs from traditional media. I will then examine ideas around ‘participatory culture’ in relation to political discourses. Social media has distinct affordances that make it different from traditional media, categorized by Hodkinson into four areas.
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