Abstract:
This paper discusses how internet memes related to ethnicity were used during
two significant events in Sri Lanka: after the Easter Sunday attack and during
Aragalaya. It is evident that many memes were shared online on both
occasions, and it is apparent that ethnicity played a crucial role in determining
what memes were shared. The paper analyzes how memes have been utilized
as a tool of division in one context and as a tool of unitation in another context,
still with hidden divisions. In the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks, many
memes were shared on the internet, spreading hatred against certain
ethnicities, while those shared during Aragalaya stressed the necessity of
being united as one to resist the current regime. By analyzing memes that have
been shared on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
and WhatsApp, and different websites, the study will uncover how two
occasions have been interpreted by people in different contexts. This study
uses more than a thousand memes created and shared in the Sinhala, Tamil,
and English languages. It was determined that memes shared until three
months after the Easter Sunday Attack on April 21 2019 and during
Aragalaya, particularly between March and November 2022, were included in
the study. In order to compare and contrast these memes, visual methodology
has been employed, and content analysis, along with critical discourse analysis
concepts, have been adopted. Despite the tendency to construct ethnic binaries
within one context, the paper explores how these binaries can be disregarded
in another context where they are hidden like sparks within ashes.
