A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL MEMES ON SOCIAL MEDIA DURING THE RECENT PAKISTAN INDIA CONFLICT

Abstract

This study conducts a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of political memes circulating on social media (SM) in response to the recent Pakistan India conflict. The research objectives are, to examine how political memes function as tools of ideological reproduction; to identify the discursive strategies employed in constructing nationalistic narratives and enemy images and to explore the role of SM in shaping public discourse. The analysis is grounded in Fairclough’s 3D Model and Teun van Dijk’s Socio-Cognitive approach, providing a dual lens to investigate the interplay between discourse structures, social cognition and power. A purposive sample of viral memes from Facebook (FB,) Twitter (now X) and Instagram was selected as multi-modal focusing on both textual and visual elements as well as contextual interpretation. The findings reveal that political memes operate as dynamic instruments of soft propaganda, utilizing humor, intersexuality, and symbolic representation to reinforce binary oppositions and legitimize nationalist ideologies. However, some are state-sponsored narratives, counter-discourse and challenging dominant interpretations on the conflict. This study concludes that memes are not merely humorous content but are significant carriers of ideology, capable of shaping collective consciousness etc. Future research may also be conducted on cross-cultural meme circulation, audience reception, and heuristic influence in digital age