Legata, Bea Kristine S.

February 24, 2019

COM105 B

Semiotic analysis of "Atenean" memes

I. Introduction to Meme Culture

This analysis aims to examine both the general meme culture in Ateneo and

specific Galaxy brain, Rizal as Thanos, and Crusader memes, first introducing the wide

range of memes posted in the closed Facebook group "Jef's Broskiposting" as for the

reader to get a better context of how the language of memes work.

According to Techopedia, "an Internet meme is an activity, concept, catchphrase

or piece of media that gains popularity and spreads rapidly via the Internet. An Internet

meme is often helped along by social networking sites and blogs that post and repost

popular memes and, in doing so, reinforce the popularity of the memes."

II. "Jef's Broskiposting" Facebook Group

Figure 1. Jef the Eagle promoting Jef's Broskiposting

 Jef's Broskiposting is an Atenean meme group created by Aleksei Alegre as

moderator and Roberto Nazal and Matthew Shau as admins. Members of this group are

free to post memes whenever they please. As of February 24, 2019, Jef's Broskiposting

has 1,220 members. It is a closed group so one must request to join before being

admitted access to the content. Membership is reviewed by the admin. I will start by

unpacking the title "Jef's Broskiposting". The word "Jef" refers to the Ateneo mascot Jef

the Eagle. "Broski" is a slang word, usually used to address a friend. Other synonyms

for broski include dude, pare, and tsong. The term "posting" from "broskiposting" came

from the term "shitposting" which, according to Know Your Meme, is "an Internet slang

term describing a range of user misbehaviors and rhetoric on forums and message

boards that are intended to derail a conversation off-topic, including thread jacking,

circlejerking and non-commercial spamming". The group was first promoted in Jef the

Eagle's Facebook page on August 2, 2018 (as seen in figure 1).

II. The Variety of Memes

Figure 2. Conyo Dude Figure 3. Conyo Girl Figure 4. Tambay sa Internet Cafe
 The range of memes posted in the group varies differently. Usually, a meme is

posted as a creative way of expressing a viewpoint over a specific current event. For

example, memes are posted about school wide emergency drills, Ateneo UAAP

basketball games, class suspensions, and JSEC challenges, just to name a few. Some

Atenean memes are a kind of self satire - Ateneans making fun of Ateneans. Some

memes are directed as a running joke towards the stereotyped JSEC goers and SOM

students. These memes make fun of "conyo-ness". Common stereotypes (as seen in

Atenean starter pack memes) include conyo girl (figure 2), conyo dude (figure 3), and

tambay sa internet cafe (figure 4). However, starter pack memes are not exclusive to

the Atenean context. These starter pack templates are widely used in the internet meme

sphere. According to Know Your Meme, "Starter packs, sometimes known as starter

kits, are a series of multi-panel photo sets meant to illustrate the archetype of a

celebrity, company or subculture through a recommended selection of fashion articles,

multimedia and other consumer products, much similar to steal her look fashion guides."

III. Memes as construction of meaning

Figure 5. Oof Figure 6. Whomst'd

 Memes shape the current Atenean speak or Atenean language and vice versa as

seen in the recent increasing usage of the word "Oof" in normal conversation. "Oof" is

used as a death sound effect in the video game Roblox. In a conversational context,

"Oof" is said when a person expresses sympathy toward misfortunes in general. The

word "F" which precedes "Oof" in the galaxy brain succession is a reference from the

first-person shooter video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, wherein the player is

asked to "Press F to Pay Respects" for the funeral of his best friend who died fighting in

South Korea. In these memes (figures 5 and 6), the "expanding brain" or "galaxy brain"

template is used. It is of a small brain evolving to a larger brain, and eventually into a

super consciousness or a "galaxy brain". According to Know Your Meme, "though the

expanding brain is usually implied to showcase intellectual superiority over various

objects, it is more often used in an ironic sense to imply the opposite, where objects of

derision are implied to be of higher standard than objects that are usually highly

regarded. For example, when used with Whomst, a person who uses "who" will be

shown with the smallest brain, while a person who uses the most ridiculous variation,

i.e. "whomst'd've", will be shown with the largest brain." In the "Oof" meme, it starts with

using the standard "I am sorry for your loss" as being compared to having a small brain

and using the ridiculous "Oof" as ironically having a "galaxy brain".

IV. Memes as an in-joke

Most references (Batch 2 enlistment, run from CTC to Bellarmine, Sutra) will only

be understood by Ateneans since they experience the context of the meme. These

memes function as "in-jokes", or jokes whose context is only understood by an in-group.

In a wide and general Atenean in-group, there exists a smaller niche or a sub-in-group.
One example of sub-in-groups is the meme Facebook page called "Agonistic Arjanist

Memes" used as a platform for posting memes about Arjan Aguirre who is currently

teaching as a Political Science professor in Ateneo. The in-group for this Agonistic

Arjanist Meme page would be students who personally know, heard stories about, or

have experienced having him as a professor. Meme references in this page range from

RuPaul's Drag Race to Plato's The Republic - all of which are transformed in memes

and connected to said professor. Disclaimer: The Agonistic Arjanist Memes Facebook

page exist independently of the Jef's Broskiposting group. It is only mentioned to

highlight the sub-in-groups existing in in-groups.

V. Memes as online commentary

Figure 7. #ADMUFreedomWall1863

Figure 8. Rizal as Thanos

In memes as commentary, I will be discussing the face of Jose Rizal in cartoon

rendition (an Ateneo Rizal Library reference) edited on Thanos' face with Hinomoto,

Toushin, Celadon, and Blue Hanguk Society organization logos substituting as four out

of the six infinity stones on Thanos' glove (figure 8). This meme is a reply to an Ateneo

Freedom Wall post (figure 7) saying: "If I join Hinamoto (a Japanese culture

organization), Toushin (an anime organization), Bluehan (a Korean culture organization)

and Celadon (a Chinese-Filipino organization), will I get super powers?" The meaning

behind "getting superpowers" after joining these specific organizations is ambiguous but
it can be guessed that it is connected to the fact that Japanese culture and anime often

have themes that are related to fantasy and fictional worlds as seen in popular shōnen

anime such as Naruto and Dragon Ball Z. In the Jef's Broskiposting meme response to

this Ateneo Freedom Wall post, the organization stones in Jose Rizal's glove represent

the combination of different Asian cultures (Japanese, Chinese, and Korean). "Having

superpowers" can also be interpreted in reference to the YouTube video uploaded by

user Fireballfury showing a schoolboy in a corner performing a ritual while wielding a

green staff, most probably warding off potential threats saying "Don't fuck with me, I

have the power of God and anime on my side". In joining the anime organization

Toushin, Jose Rizal gets more power.

The original context of the caption is taken from a conversation of Thanos and

young Gamora in the movie Avengers: Infinity War. (Young Gamora: "Did you do it?"

Thanos: "Yes." Young Gamora: "What did it cost?" Thanos: "Everything.") This Young

Gamora-Thanos conversation is then transformed into the context of the four

organization logos on Rizal's glove. The new, meme'd exchange reads: "Did you do it?"

"Yes" "What did it cost?" "400 pesos". This dialogue suggests that the person has

already paid the 100 peso application fee in joining all four organizations. Disclaimer:

The official spelling of the Hinomoto organization is "Hinomoto", not "Hinamoto". The

anonymous submitter probably overlooked this error.

VI. Memes as a response to real life situations

Figure 9. Crusader and Nietzsche

In this four panel format meme (figure 9), the audience sees the image of a

teenage man with a backpack (most probably a college student) standing in front of

campus steps. Slowly, as the audience views the fourth and final frame, the man is

morphed into a crusader.

The connotated meaning of the man morphing into a crusader can be an

Atenean expressing his opinion on people who, like the crusaders, expect everyone to

believe in his religion and attacks anyone identified as a non-believer. These non-

believers are seen as enemies of the faith. Here, the image of the crusader represents

someone who forces their religion onto others. This meme is made in a four panel

format, taking inspiration from the frame-by-frame format of comic strips. It organizes

the meme into a chronological format. The standard way of viewing this meme format is

to start from the upper left, then to the upper right, then to the lower left, and finally to

the lower right. The reader follows the progression of the story in this way, from seeing
an image of a regular college student, to seeing a blurred but visible image of a

crusader with its sword raised in the second frame, slowly becoming less transparent in

the third frame and finally presented as a clear, solid picture in the last frame.

The image is captioned "When it's 12pm, and you see someone walking". To

give it context, there is usually a prayer being spoken and broadcast with the P.A.

during that time and everyone in the campus vicinity is expected to stop what they are

doing and pause for a moment. Some people don't follow this rule and continue their

activities even with most people standing in silence.

In the comments section we see a reply from Facebook user Enzo Mananquil

Samson saying: "When you're late for class and people in front of you just stop and

stand in the middle of the paths", attached with a meme of Friedrich Nietzsche

supposedly saying his widely quoted statement "God is dead", which is usually

associated with his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. What Nietzsche meant with his

statement was not that there was a God who once existed and is now dead, but that of

humanity's idea of God after the Age of the Enlightenment wherein society does not rely

on the idea that government officials had to be elected because of their "divine right".

Rather, because of the rise of rationality, people increasingly leaned more towards

science and philosophy. Using his statement "God is dead" in the context of Enzo

Samson's comment, it can be said that Enzo is referring to a situation wherein he states

"God is dead", urging those who stand in the middle of the paths during prayer to move

so that he can carry on with his agenda of going to class.

Sources
Analysis on Internet Memes using Semiotics. (2013, June 24). Retrieved February 25,

2019, from http://english.binus.ac.id/2013/06/24/analysis-on-internet-memes-

using-semiotics/

Khan, R. (2018, February 14). Types of Memes. Retrieved February 25, 2019, from

https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/humour/types-memes-1534762

Jef the Eagle. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2019, from

https://www.facebook.com/JeffPogiBhoiEagle

Shitposting. (2019, February 20). Retrieved February 25, 2019, from

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/shitposting Agonistic Arjanist Memes. (n.d.).

Retrieved February 25, 2019, from https://www.facebook.com/arjanistmemes

Jef's Broskiposting. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2019, from

https://www.facebook.com/groups/230865404421311/

What is an Internet Meme? - Definition from Techopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25,

2019, from https://www.techopedia.com/definition/16944/internet-meme

Hendricks, S. (2019, January 04). 'God is dead': What Nietzsche really meant.

Retrieved February 25, 2019, from https://bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/what-

nietzsche-really-meant-by-god-is-dead

Expanding Brain. (2019, February 25). Retrieved February 25, 2019, from

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/expanding-brain

Press F to Pay Respects. (2019, February 07). Retrieved February 25, 2019, from

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/press-f-to-pay-respects
Starter Packs. (2019, February 23). Retrieved February 25, 2019, from

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/starter-packs