A bridge that is strategically important to Russia's military was damaged in an explosion on Saturday. Ukrainians celebrated by flooding Twitter with memes.
Even though most may think of memes as a phenomenon that sprouted with the coming of age of the Internet, memes actually date— if not centuries. Long before the invention of the internet, experts say, memes have functioned as an analog way for humans to communicate and joke with one another.
In Ukraine, the country has long used memes, along with others in the post-Soviet space, to be critical of the Soviet Union, says Sigita Struberga, a researcher at the department of political science at the University of Latvia. "During Soviet times, humor, for example, short stories or anecdotes ... were once a certain type of freedom of expression," says Struberga.
"The memes give an opportunity [to] address target audiences in a more sharp form, to express more sharp narratives" that may not make sense to those who are coming at the issue neutrally, according to Struberga, who is also the secretary general of the Latvian Transatlanic Organization.After the fall of the USSR in the early 90s, memes continued to be a way for post-Soviet countries to push back against Moscow and share information, she says.
When it comes to the current conflict, Struberga says the Ukrainian army, politicians and civil society alike have been using humor very effectively — reaching both local and foreign audiences with important messages,
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