The Poetics of Dating in WhatsApp Memes: Imagery of the Market

Cheruiyot Evans Kiplimo; Emmanuel Kiio Mutiso; Sheril Minyade

doi:10.37284/eajass.5.2.784

Cheruiyot Evans Kiplimo Kenyatta University
Emmanuel Kiio Mutiso Kenyatta University
Sheril Minyade Kenyatta University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37284/eajass.5.2.784

Keywords: Euphemism, Memes, Dating, Humour, Markers of gender, Imagery of the market

Share Article:

Abstract

Dating involves feelings and words relating to sex which is considered a subject of social condemnation (taboo). Despite the shame associated with such a subject, human beings still devise ways to refer to them in a manner that is socially and ethically acceptable. Creativity is an essential aspect of language that has enabled human beings to use language in novelty. This paper analyses memes to determine how the market imagery has been used to demarcate dating, highlight the properties of the language in use, and portray markers of gender. This research was guided by the theory of meaning in use propounded by Ludwig Wittgenstein (1953). This paper showed that the market imagery had been used symbolically, enabling WhatsApp users to use indirect expressions to talk about dating and other obscene things. WhatsApp users have resorted to humour to release the tension associated with dating frustrations. Lastly, the names of foods, chauvinistic verbs and basic terms have been used as markers of gender. The data that has been utilised in this research has been collected from WhatsApp statuses. This paper has shown how memes manipulate language to reflect social-cultural realities in the 21^st century, specifically in the context of dating in Kenya.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Allan, K. & Burridge, K. (2006). Forbidden Words. Taboo and the Censoring of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

BAKITA (2015). Kamusi Kuu ya Kiswahili. Nairobi: Longhorn Publishers.

Balkmar, D. (2012). On men and cars: An ethnographic study of gendered, risky and dangerous relations [Doctoral dissertation, Linköping University Electronic Press].

Beck, R.M. (2003). Perceptions of Gender in Swahili Language and Society. In M. Hellinger & H. Bußmann (Ed.), Gender across Languages, 311-338. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Brown, K. & Miller, J. (2013).The Cambridge Dictionary of Linguistics. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Brugeilles, C. & Cromer, S. (2009). Promoting Gender Equality through Textbooks: A Methodological Guide. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001588/158897e.pdf

Campbell, L. & Mixco, M. J. (2007). A Glossary of Historical Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Diaz, C.C.M. (2013). Defining and characterizing the concept of Internet Meme. Revista CES Psicología, 6(2), 82-104.

Eben, M. (2018). Market definition and free online services: the prospect of personal data as price. I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society, 14(2), pp. 227-281. http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/202096/

Fernández, E. C. (2018). Taboos in Speaking of Sex and Sexuality. In K. Allan (Ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Taboo Words and Language, 14-35. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fromkin, V., Rodman, R. & Hyams, N. (2003). An Introduction to Language (7th

Ed.). Washington, D.C: Thomson Wadsworth.

Klein, J. (2017). Why Onions Make You Cry. New York Times. Retrieved on: 21st June 2022.

Leech, G. (1981). Semantics: The Study of Meaning. (2nd ed.). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

Leech, G. N. (1969). A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry. London: Longman.

Maattanen, P. (2005). Meaning as Use: Peirce and Wittgenstein. Retrieved on: 20th June, 2022 from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288331549

Murphy, C. (1996). The E word. Atlantic Monthly, 278(3),16–18.

Mwaniki, S. (2018). Why Kalonzo is Called ‘Watermelon’. Hivisasa. https://hivisasa.com/posts/why-kalonzo-is-called-watermelon

Perrine, L. (1974). Literature 1. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

Raskin, V. (1985). Semantic Mechanisms of Humor. Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publishing Company.

Sparke, P. (1995). As long as it’s pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste. London: Pandora.

Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical Investigations. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.