When memes become revolution: Facebook political memes as postmodern folk art in Bangladesh’s July 2024 Uprising

Abstract

This thesis examines Facebook political memes from Bangladesh’s July 2024 quota reform movement and uprising. It sees these memes as postmodern digital folk art that shaped how people experience and remember politics. This thesis uses Jean Baudrillard’s simulation, simulacra and hyper reality theory, Henry Jenkins’ participatory culture, Antonio Gramsci’s cultural hegemony and other related memes and folklore research. It analyzes 7 image-based memes from Bangladeshi public Facebook groups and pages using multimodal methods. This research shows how memes transform protest, state violence, internet shutdowns and religion into shareable visual jokes. These not only document the events but also create a hyperreal archive of July 2024 events that is more vivid than any news reports. This thesis argues that these memes function as both political commentary and a form of emotional support, and a place where the hegemonic narrative about nation, youth and authority are reinforced, negotiated or challenged. This thesis highlights the importance of the meme culture of the Global South in explaining contemporary digital activism.