THE COMMUNICATIVE IMPORTS OF MEMES IN COMPUTER- MEDIATED POLITICAL DISCOURSE: A CASE STUDY OF THE WIKE- FUBARA POLITICAL CRISIS IN RIVERS STATE NIGERIA

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Abstract
This study explores the discourse of political ideologies surrounding the Rivers State politics in Nigeria by examining the communicative functions and socio- political implications of Internet memes within the context of the Wike-Fubara political crisis in Rivers State. It adopts the discursive use of Kress and ven Leeuwen's Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) to analyze the multimodal nature of the cartoons that convey the Wike-Fubara political crisis. Overtime, memes have emerged to become a powerful multimodal tool in computer mediated discourse combining both visuals and written texts to convey political information. Through the analysis of memes, a discourse is engaged to intercept the Wike-Fubara political crisis, capturing the roles and influence memes have in contributing to public perception, and shaping the Nigerian politics. This research made the following findings: citizens use memes to mock and challenge political authority by turning serious issues into humorous visuals, godfatherism, security threats, and political tensions remains a dominant theme in Nigerian politics, and also that emergency rule is both a subject of satire and a source of anxiety. In conclusion, this study concluded that memes function as instruments of communication especially during the Wike-Fubara political crisis in Rivers State. It serves as the public voice expression frustration, hope and uncertainty.
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