{"id":21144,"date":"2020-10-08T17:01:17","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T00:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&p=21144"},"modified":"2023-09-29T10:28:25","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T17:28:25","slug":"from-kilroy-to-pepe-a-brief-history-of-memes","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/from-kilroy-to-pepe-a-brief-history-of-memes\/","title":{"rendered":"From Kilroy to Pepe: A Brief History of Memes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lennlee Keep<\/strong><\/p>\n

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What do Pepe the Frog, the Spanish Inquisition, the blinking guy, the French Revolution, concern for the environment, and the Third Reich all have in common? These are all ideas that spread until they became pervasive throughout a culture or country. According to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins<\/strong>, they are also all <\/span>cultural units of information<\/b>, or as he called them, memes<\/strong><\/em>, a word derived from the Greek word “<\/span>mimeme<\/span><\/i>” and “gene.” Memes are, essentially, a “cultural gene.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Dawkins contends that our ideas, ideals, cultures, and customs replicate themselves. Almost like a virus, they travel from person to person through imitation, sharing, and repetition. While all memes are ideas, not all ideas become memes because not all ideas are worth passing on or copying. <\/span><\/p>\n\"man\n

Richard Dawkins becomes part of a meme himself<\/em><\/p>\n

Memes, as we have come to know them\u2014visual representations of feelings, thoughts, ideas, or just plain jokes\u2014have in some form or another been found dating back to 3 B.C. Archeologists uncovered a mosaic in what was the ancient city of Antioch, a piece in three frames, which seems to depict a bathing scene. The first frame is of a servant preparing a bath; the second frame, a young man running away from taking the bath, being pursued by an older servant who is unable to catch him; the last scene, a “reckless” but seemingly happy skeleton of the young man is sitting casually with a jug of wine.<\/span><\/p>\n

The inscription below him reads: “Be cheerful, Live your life.” The story here seemingly says, “Don\u2019t let anyone tell you how to live! Do what you want because we are all going to die anyway.” <\/span><\/p>\n

This may be the original YOLO.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\"The\n

Memes also aren\u2019t even species-specific; they serve a function in the animal kingdom as well. In 1965, primatologists studying a group of macaque monkeys on Koshima Islet in Japan observed the monkeys cleaning the sweet potatoes before they ate them. The animals would spend a lot of time painstakingly picking off sand and dirt until it was clean enough to eat. One day, a single female monkey took her potato to the ocean and rinsed it clean. This behavior was then “transmitted” to other monkeys in the group and then beyond to other monkeys on the island. “Mime me” in action.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are still memes about macaque monkeys, but they are a lot different.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\"For\n

Our great-grandparents may not know how to operate the computer or talk to Siri, but even they had their meme, which can still be found around the globe today. His name was <\/span>Kilroy<\/b>. With his long nose and bald head, he was there for it, whatever it was. While there are myths and legends about his origins, the truth is that no one is sure where Kilroy started. One legend has it that it originated from ship inspector James Kilroy, while another credits a serviceman named Francis Kilroy. His origin isn\u2019t as important as what Kilroy <\/span>symbolized<\/span><\/i>, kind of like today’s \u201c<\/span>blinking white guy<\/b>\u201d meme. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kilroy

Kilroy Was Here drawing engraved on the Washington DC WWII Memorial<\/p><\/div>\n

Kilroy was the fighting spirit of\u00a0 American soldiers during WWII, and so prolific was the “Kilroy” mark it’s rumored that Germans thought Kilroy might be a real spy. He traveled overseas and back again, and like a good meme, hung around for a while. He crossed over from mere graffiti to film and television, appearing in the 1970 war movie <\/span>Kelly\u2019s Heroes<\/span><\/i> and was referenced in a 1975 episode of M*A*S*H*<\/em>. Kilroy was the meme heard round the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\"MASH\n

Dawkins\u2019s work definitely popularized the idea of memes as cultural transmission, no matter the medium. But some scholars argue there’s a gap between Dawkins\u2019s book and memes in the digital world.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Professor<\/span> Limor Shifman<\/span> of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who studies internet memes, contends that digital memes are unique because they are not just a single idea, but groups of ideas created with an awareness of each other. <\/span><\/p>\n

Take Pepe the frog, “star” of <\/span>Feels Good Man<\/span><\/i><\/a>, on his own an easy-going frog, but memes created from the image of Pepe became a symbol for white supremacy. Shifman\u2019s definition of Internet memes is \u201cdigital content units with common characteristics, created with awareness of each other, and circulated, imitated, and transformed via the Internet by many users.\u201d And users decide what gets copied and passed on, which is where things can get out of hand.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Clip: Psychologist & Memetist Dr. Susan Blackmore explains the origins of the term "meme" and its evolution to the Internet, leading to comic character Pepe's escape to the "memisphere."
Watch @FeelsGoodManDoc<\/a> Monday October 19 on @PBS<\/a>.#FeelsGoodManPBS<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qVVI4FTXbP<\/a><\/p>\n

— Independent Lens (@IndependentLens) October 10, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n