Laughter in the Line of Fire: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Indo-Pak War Memes

Abstract

Bluffs made by the coward were heard after the feigned Pahalgam attack just to gain political limelight and votes in the general elections of India by BJP. The pride of being greater in number and strong economy made India run wild without a leash. The whole scenario, however, has become a laughing stock for the Pakistani netizens where memers have flooded the social media platforms with innumerable memes that not only mocked the Indian baseless claims but also attenuated various social issues in a lighter note. This study aims to probe the selected memes from various social media platforms in the Indo-Pak war situation and even during the war of May, 2025. It highlights how these memes convey the social issues and armed supremacy in the digital realm of social media. This study employs Fairclough's Three-Dimensional Model (1992) to analyze the memes on the textual, discursive and social meaning making levels. The description, interpretation and explanation of the memes probe to show how Pakistanis laugh in the line of fire because of strong armed forces. This is the recent contemporary and hot topic which is definitely untouched and provides ample space for this research to pave the way for future research to read between the lines of the memes. This study adds to the prior existing literature and research in the realms of digital media, memes, and discourse, with a particular emphasis on war memes.

Keywords:

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), digital and social media, dimensions of memes, memes, netizens, social issues, war.

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