Internetifolkloor globaalse pandeemia ajal: COVID-19 Valgevene veebihuumoris
Internet folklore in times of global pandemic: COVID-19 in Belarusian online humor

Summary/Abstract: During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic (February–July 2020) I collected 374 textual jokes, humorous images, and image macros related to the coronavirus from Belarusian social media, friends, and family members. Many of the examples in my dataset became local memes, circulating within and beyond the Belarusian mediascape. While the Belarusian government’s dismissive response to the pandemic was unique among the Eastern European nations, only 34 of my examples referred specifically to the situation in Belarus. Many more examples addressed such issues as living under a lockdown, compulsory mask wearing, and distant working and learning, even though these measures were not implemented in the country on a mass scale. This incongruity between people’s lived experience in Belarus and the content of humorous folklore circulating in the country illustrates the influence of global media coverage on vernacular humorous expressions. These vernacular expressions point to strong connections between the Belarusian mediascape and those of other countries, especially Russia, from where many of the examples originated. The paper also reflects a broader issue of globalization and digitalization of contemporary folklore, discusses the phenomenon of newslore and illustrates how some of the common characteristics of folklore can be applied to the digital forms of vernacular expression. The paper also looks at the balance between global and local in the online folklore.

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