Unweaving the Social Fabric of Finland : Violence in Peace during the Covid-19 pandemic
Levola, Henna (2023)
2023
Master's Programme in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-06-08
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202306056532
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202306056532
Tiivistelmä
In this study, I examine peace and violence as entwined yet separate phenomena whose existence in a society can be observed in mundane visual communication. I argue that peace and violence should not be understood as ends of the same continuum but as concurrent dynamics and hence there is violence in peace as there is peace in violence. I take a violent event –the covid-19 pandemic– as my context and study memes shared in a peaceful society during this exceptional time.
The memes were analysed with Barthes’ semiological tools to carve out not just their meanings but also the deep cultural norms and values they carry. The results portrayed a violent visual environment that creates divisions and conveys sexism and nationalism. Yet on rare occasions, these norms were also challenged in the memes. Moreover, I found that the same meme may on one level of analysis communicate violence while on another level advocate peace. These results reflect the ambiguousness of peace and indicate the challenges in visualising peace, peace indeed is hard to visualise.
The memes were analysed with Barthes’ semiological tools to carve out not just their meanings but also the deep cultural norms and values they carry. The results portrayed a violent visual environment that creates divisions and conveys sexism and nationalism. Yet on rare occasions, these norms were also challenged in the memes. Moreover, I found that the same meme may on one level of analysis communicate violence while on another level advocate peace. These results reflect the ambiguousness of peace and indicate the challenges in visualising peace, peace indeed is hard to visualise.