Chatsky’s Image in Internet-Memes

Abstract

The article features Internet memes based on A. S. Griboyedov’s Woe from Wit. This comedy in verse is on all Russian school reading lists, but it can compete with current events and mass culture phenomena as a source of Internet means. The plot is so recognizable and the verse is so easy to remember that the token names, quotes, and plot guarantee successful communication. That is why Woe from Wit has become a popular subject of ironic interpretation for Russian Internet users. The memes are somehow connected with its main character, Chatsky, and the main conflict. However, the simplification and irony usually follow the traditional critical and literary interpretations. Some memes reflect not the reader’s experience but the experience of studying this literary work at school. Given the ability of memes to replicate, the current interpretation is likely to be quite stable.

Keywords

• woe from wit
• internet meme
• meme
• creolized text
• literary meme
• internet communication
• virtual communication