Andra världskriget som intern(et)skämt : En studie om kulturell gemenskap på forumet r/ww2memes

Sammanfattning: World War II as an in(ternet)-joke : A study on cultural community on the forum r/ww2memes. This master’s thesis examines the construction of community on the Reddit-forum r/ww2memes, dedicated to publishing and sharing internet memes concerning World War 2. By constructing a theoretical framework consisting of a certain use of history applied in presentist temporalities, herein referred to as appropriation of history, and a cultural theory purposed to analyze the digital culture of internet memes, perspective is created to make understanding of how history is communicated through history memes. The material, consisting of the 150 most popular internet memes on r/ww2memes through all time was approached through a methodology based in the concept of narrative abbreviations, explained through World War 2 historiography, as well as a model to discern expressions of identity and belonging through internet memes, grounded in the concept of subaltern counterpublics. Through this methodology, the forum’s construction of World War 2 as a collection of fronts, battles and occurrences, specifically the invasion of Poland 1939, the invasion of France 1940, the Eastern Front 1941-1945, the Pacific War 1941-1945 and the Holocaust, was made visible. The study found that r/ww2memes predominantly communicates about World War 2 in uniting aspects, with knowledge, values and experience as their main expressions of unity and belonging. In regard to values, the study found that r/ww2memes creates identity through internet memes depicting World War 2 by constructing itself as sphere consisting of men, while also deprecating groups that show support to the Wehrmacht. The main findings regarding appropriation of history found that, through understanding communication of history in internet memes as a presentist process, history can be appropriated by the particular expressions typical for internet memes, as well as that the predominate historical ideas communicated on the forum can be traced to Western European and American historical cultural ideas, furthering the findings of construction of community on r/ww2memes as grounded in Western historical idea. Lastly, the study considered the communication of history on r/ww2memes as part of a larger perspective regarding communication of history on Web 2.0. The study concluded that the mechanics of the Web 2.0 platforms ruled by commercial interests affects the communication of history and is therefore a major field of interest for the historical sciences.