The End Justifies the Memes

What is the deeper, symbolic meaning of an overturned alms bowl? What reasoning goes into the decision as to whether a protest sign is written in English or Burmese, or as pictograms, or emojis? And how and why has General Min Aung Hlaing’s height become a focus of the protest messaging?

These are just some of the concepts that “Brad” and “May” (not their real names) have begun to explore on their new Facebook page, “Burmese Protest Memes and Signs Translated and Explained: Translating and explaining Burmese memes and protest signs for an English audience.”

Unlike in other countries, where internet connectivity has been available for a much longer time, in Myanmar, “online culture” is relatively new. As May succinctly explains, “We're the generation that has grown up with internet and social media. And memes are a way to communicate with each other, to share not just jokes, but also feelings… So yeah, memes are perhaps a symbol of what our generation is.”

Brad and May felt that much of the outside world was missing the subtle messaging that protesters were trying to communicate by their signs, and hoped that their new page would help in this regard. It has developed to explaining the deeper, underlying meaning of the many Burmese memes that are now proliferating, both online and in real life today. In doing so, they reveal the many themes that protesters are connecting to their movement, including British colonialism, Burmese Buddhism, ethnic identity, numerology and astrology, and specific events both in the protests as well as recent political incidents connected to the coup.

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