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A semiotic analysis of humor in K-drama memes
University College London, UK.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6161-3623
University College London, UK.
2025 (English)In: PUNCTUM. International Journal of Semiotics, E-ISSN 2459-2943, Vol. 11, no 1, p. 221-240Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This study is a qualitative semiotic analysis of the humorin 13 representative K-drama memes drawn from acorpus of approximately 200 memes bearing the hashtag #kdramameme. K-dramas are one of the key aspects of theglobal Korean Wave, and there is a thriving body of memescreated by and for the global K-drama fandom. Despite the centrality of humor to the meme genre and the fact that memes constitute a prominent form of 21st-century expression, K-drama memes have not previously been analyzed from a humor theory perspective. We analyze the humorous element of the K-drama memes in our corpus according to three semiotic theoretical mechanisms, namely the concepts of memetemplates, blending, and benign violation. We argue that these three semiotic mechanisms feed into two overarching functions of K-drama meme humor, i.e., a social function (constructionand enhancement of in-group identity and belonging), and a psychological one (expression of emotions). Our study shows that the K-drama memescape is multifaceted and connected to K-drama and real life in complex ways.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Hellenic Semiotic Society , 2025. Vol. 11, no 1, p. 221-240
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Other Humanities not elsewhere specified
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URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-571706DOI: 10.18680/hss.2025.0011OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-571706DiVA, id: diva2:2014487
Available from: 2025-11-18 Created: 2025-11-18 Last updated: 2025-11-18Bibliographically approved

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Valijärvi, Riitta-Liisa

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CiteExportLink to record
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