Memes as ensemble of illocutionary acts

As digital communication continues to shape discourse, memes have emerged as a potent tool for conveying messages. Previous studies on internet memes have focused on various aspects such as humor generation, speech acts, and political communication. Although there are studies on speech acts and memes, research specifically examining speech acts within subcultures is scarce. This paper aims to fill that gap by examining the illocutionary acts in political memes within a subculture. To understand how illocutionary acts function in memes, 50 political memes that appeared during the Kerala state assembly election were analyzed using the framework of speech acts. The analysis revealed that memes often contain multiple illocutionary acts. Additionally, it was observed that a single meme can encompass several illocutionary acts simultaneously. This study highlights the complexity and richness of political memes as a form of communication within subcultures, demonstrating how they can convey layered and multifaceted messages through the use of illocutionary acts.