A Critical Discourse Analysis of Pakistani Political Memes as a Language Game in the Digital Age

Abstract

The research investigates into Van Leeuwan’s Multimodal analysis of political memes in Pakistan studying how these political artifacts act as means of ideology and power in a specific country’s political context. It is the use of language that does not reproduce meanings but constructs meanings (Halliday, 2014). Examining and analyzing the perspectives of the major political players through the memes, the study describes the ways these memes are employed to propagate ideologies by manipulating audience perception and establishing power dynamics. The research employed Van Leeuwen’s Multimodal approach as a method for this research. The research seeks to look into this relationship through the analysis of several protest memes, their language, images, and messages. The results of the research prove that memes are not mere sources of laughter but are effective communication tools that can be used to alter the prevailing political opinions and advance certain ideologies. The study helps comprehend the ways of communication used in Pakistan’s politics in the era of digitalization; it particularly explores the contributions of memes to the political processes today.