Transformation of precedent movie phrases in comic creolized internet memes (using the movie “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession” as an example of the source of meme origin)

Abstract

Research objective is to identify the ways in which precedent movie phrases are transformed into creolized internet memes. The article examines creolized internet memes from the perspective of comic genres, focusing primarily on the transformation methods, which are techniques of linguistic play. The scientific novelty of the research lies in providing a classification of internet memes created on the basis of the Soviet movie text “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession” (directed by Leonid Gaidai, 1973) according to the method of transformation of the precedent phenomenon. The author of the article proposes to distinguish three groups of transformation of precedent phenomena. In the first group, one or two components in the iconic movie phrase, presented as a simple sentence, are replaced. The transformations in the second group are based on the principle of associative series. In the third group, the transformation leads to the formation of a simulacrum. As a result, it is determined that the replacement of the object, subject, predicate, or two nominative components in the sentence is typically done by selecting lexemes that are phonetically similar to the component being replaced. Transformations based on the principle of associative series result in the combination of fragments from domestic and foreign movie texts. The stages of meme adaptation in cyberspace from a meme to a meta-meme have been identified.