Primary Data for MA Thesis: Tigrigna Meme

Internet memes are emergent cultural artifacts that crystallize collective affect, social critique, and vernacular semiotics within the digital public sphere. This thesis interrogates their deployment as quotidian instruments of resistance by subaltern groups in the aftermath of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA), which marked the formal cessation of the war in northern Ethiopia (hereafter, ‘the war’). Anchored in the digital milieu of the public Facebook group ትግርኛ Meme—Tigrigna Meme, the study explores how subaltern actors appropriate meme culture to subvert hegemonic discourses, reconfigure political agency, and articulate counter-narratives through satire, irony, and symbolic condensation in a post-conflict context. The group had approximately 130,000 and 165,000 active members as of January and June 2023 correspondingly. I borrowed the title of the study, Tigrigna Memes, directly from the group’s name on Facebook, and pluralized the word ‘meme’ for syntactic purposes. The below folder contains a collection of internet memes collected from a Facebook group Tigrigna Meme (ትግርኛ Meme (facebook.com). The researcher utilized a Facebook image-searching algorithm to identify relevant memes targeting the frame of the study; primarily based on the Facebook image-search algorithm being a complex system that relies on computer vision and machine learning. The query terms used in the search bar within the group are in both Tigrigna and English languages. These included dominant actors and narratives during the war. In the folder, memes are categorized based of the frame of analysis as follows: 1. The Tigrayan Insiders: a. Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF); b. Tigray Traders; c. Tigrayan Traders. 2. "The Others": a. The Ethiopian federal government; b. The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF); c. The para-ENDF forces: Fano and the Amhara Special Forces. Sample search terms for dominant actors and narratives: ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ (ህወሓት)—a Tigrigna equivalent for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF); ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ትግራይ (ሓምት)—Tigray Defense Forces (TDF); ነጋዶ ትግራይ—Tigray traders; ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ (ሓምኤ)—Eritrea Defense Forces (EDF); and የኢፌዲሪ መከላከያ ሠራዊት (or መከላከያ) — the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF); ገፈፋ (Forced conscriptions); ትግራይ ትዕስር (Tigray shall prevail); and etcetera. Search terms for major political figures: አብይ አህመድ አሊ (or አብይ፣ አብቹ) — Abiy Ahmed Ali (Abiy, Abichu); ፕሬዝደንት ኢሳይያስ አፈወርቂ (or ኢሳይያስ)—Isayas Afeworki, ጌታቸው ረዳ (or ጌች)—Getachew (Gech)፣ ፕሬዝደንት ደብረጽዮን (ደብረጽዮን)—Debretsion, and etcetera.网络迷因（meme）是一种新兴文化产物，于数字公共场域中凝聚集体情感、社会批判与本土符号学意涵。本论文探究了《停止敌对行动协定（Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, CoHA）》签署后——该协定标志着埃塞俄比亚北部战争正式结束（下称“此次战争”）——底层群体将迷因作为日常抵抗工具的使用实践。本研究锚定脸书公开群组“提格雷语迷因（Tigrigna Meme）”的数字场域，探讨冲突后语境中，底层行动者如何通过讽刺、反讽与符号凝练的手法，挪用迷因文化以颠覆霸权话语、重构政治主体性，并阐明对抗性叙事。 截至2023年1月与6月，该群组的活跃成员数分别约为13万与16.5万。本研究的标题《提格雷语迷因（Tigrigna Memes）》直接取自该脸书群组之名，为满足句法规范对“meme”一词采用了复数形式。 本数据集文件夹收录了从脸书群组“提格雷语迷因（Tigrigna Meme，facebook.com）”中采集的网络迷因样本。研究者借助脸书图片搜索算法筛选契合本研究分析框架的迷因样本——该算法是一套依托计算机视觉与机器学习的复杂系统。群组内搜索栏所使用的查询词涵盖提格雷语与英语两类，包含此次战争期间的主要行动者与核心叙事。 本文件夹内的迷因依据分析框架分为以下类别： 1. 提格雷内部主体： a. 提格雷人民解放阵线（Tigray People's Liberation Front, TPLF）； b. 提格雷商人； c. 提格雷裔商人。 2. 他者群体： a. 埃塞俄比亚联邦政府； b. 埃塞俄比亚国防军（Ethiopian National Defense Force, ENDF）； c. 埃塞俄比亚国防军准军事力量：法诺（Fano）与阿姆哈拉特种部队。 核心行动者与叙事的示例搜索词： ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ（ህወሓት）——提格雷语对应词，指代提格雷人民解放阵线（TPLF）； ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ትግራይ（ሓምት）——提格雷国防军（Tigray Defense Forces, TDF）； ነጋዶ ትግራይ——提格雷商人； ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ（ሓምኤ）——厄立特里亚国防军（Eritrea Defense Forces, EDF）； የኢፌዲሪ መከላከያ ሠራዊት（或መከላከያ）——埃塞俄比亚国防军（ENDF）； ገፈፋ（强制征兵）； ትግራይ ትዕስር（“提格雷必将胜利”）；等。 核心政治人物搜索词： አብይ አህመድ አሊ（或አብይ፣ አብቹ）——阿比·艾哈迈德·阿里（Abiy, Abichu）； ፕሬዝዳንት ኢሳይያስ አፈወርቂ（或ኢሳይያስ）——伊萨亚斯·阿费沃基； ጌታቸው ረዳ（或ጌች）——格塔丘（Gech）； ፕሬዝዳንት ደብረጽዮን（ደብረጽዮን）——德布雷齐翁；等。