Head of States in Internet Political Jokes: Image Representation of V. V. Putin, D. A. Medvedev, D. Trump, and D. Biden

Abstract

The article features the image of the President of the Russian Federation in current political Internet jokes and the way his image is compared with other political and public figures. Internet joke is a hybrid genre of modern communication; it can be political, virtual, mundane, etc. The study involved general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, and interpretation, as well as special linguistic methods of discourse and content analyses. The most frequent characters in jokes about V. V. Putin appeared to be D. A. Medvedev, D. S. Peskov, R. A. Kadyrov, D. Biden, B. Obama, D. Trump, etc. The image of V. V. Putin is dominated by his influence, authority, strength, and leadership in the Russian and international political arena. By comparing V. V. Putin with other political figures, jokes ironically reduce his image or that of his political associates and opponents. They also represent popular ideas about the unique character of presidential status in Russia.

Keywords

• internet joke
• political communication
• humorous discourse
• virtual discourse
• v. v. putin
• image of a politician