Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock: a Cognitive Semiotic Analysis of an American Humorous Image Macro

Document Type : Research in linguistic and literary studies

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Department of English language, Faculty of Al-Alsun, Minia University

Abstract

This study aims to present a cognitive semiotic analysis of Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock humorous image macro in American English. The data under examination is collected from knowyourmeme.com, Google Images and Pinterest. It consists of 5 image macros. Semiotic analysis is based on Berger's notion of code violation, McCloud's taxonomy of text and image relations, visual analysis (image editing techniques), and an analysis of textual features of top and bottom texts of the image macros; the last two represent visual and verbal causes of humor. As for the cognitive analysis, it applies Fauconnier & Turner's Conceptual Integration Theory. Semiotically speaking, data analysis reveals types of image and text relations, causes of humor, types of image photoshopping and distinctive textual and visual features. Cognitively, the examined data highlights how, from a meme maker's point of view, the human mind is astonishingly skillful in integrating already existing mental spaces to create new structures and how, from a meme receiver's / reader's point of view, the human mind can also deconstruct new never seen before structures to their basic mental spaces, thus understanding what intended to be communicated.

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