Darknet imaginaries in Internet memes: the discursive malleability of the cultural status of digital technologies
分析了505个网络迷因，揭示暗网在流行文化中被塑造为既支持又祛魅主流形象的复杂图景，提出“话语可塑性”概念解释小众技术如何被文化实践重塑。
Abstract Dominant discourses on the darknet present it either as a dangerous space with flourishing crime or a place for civic action and political activism. However, these depictions have been challenged in online popular culture, particularly in memes. By utilizing the concepts of double articulation of media and cultural imaginaries, this article reveals how memes shape popular definitions of darknet. Our qualitative, social semiotic content analysis of 505 memes reveals an ambiguous and complex vision of the darknet that both supports and demystifies the mainstream imagery. We introduce the concept of discursive malleability of niche technologies to describe how cultural practices reshape technologies, especially those with small userbases. Additionally, we present a “representational map of the darknet” and indicate how this contributes to social understanding of digital technologies more generally, and, not least why the analyzed memes may be read as lens exposing contradictory notions and policies regarding digital technologies nowadays.