Critical self-stereotype of Poles in proboscis monkey memes

Abstract

The topic of this article is the stereotype of “typical Poles” presented in the series of memes using a proboscis monkey. The author briefly reports the features connected with “national character” and self-stereotypes of Poles in the past, from 16th century to the first decades of 21st century, after joining the EU. Then the author discusses the functions of memes as a media genre, including social criticism. The main part of the article is dedicated to a detailed analysis of the sample of 354 memes depicting “proboscis monkey – typical Pole”: its values, habits, social activities, social roles, work, and lifestyle (including consumption habits). The analysed self-stereotype of Poles in the proboscis monkey memes is described in the article in terms of postcolonial theory, as a case study of postcolonial identity, rooted in the historical models of “national character”, but focused on negative features, with positive dimensions of previous self-stereotypes reduced almost to zero. The author concludes that it limits the critical potential of this self-stereotype and its impact on the self-consciousness of Poles.