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https://doi.org/10.31577/SN.2023.4.34 | Articles
Željko Predojević, independent researcher, Ilirska 74, 31000 Osijek, Croatia; e-mail:
zeljkopredojevic@yahoo.com
During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media usage increased due to limitations on
physical gatherings. As a result, social media platforms also became important outlets
for celebrating holidays. is study therefore analyses the role of humour in the digital
sharing of Easter festive material during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of
digital folklore. e research was conducted on the social media platform Instagram
using Easter-related hashtags (#covideaster) to collect a digital corpus consisting of
various visual-verbal internet genres, mainly internet memes and their subgenres. e
corpus was divided into six thematic-motif groups and analysed in relation to topical
cycle jokes, newslore, political humour, and disaster humour. Two groups present typical
Easter symbols incorporated into pandemic-related memes, reecting a modied
typical image of Easter before and aer the pandemic. ey deliver humorous messages
through incongruity resolution using familiar Easter-related imagery and news-inspired
pandemic verbal messages. e remaining four groups present Easter in atypical ways,
incorporating elements from popular culture, politics, classic jokes, and a parody of
Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. It was concluded that the role of humour in the digital
sharing of Easter festive material during the pandemic served various purposes. It
provided a means of coping with the situation, acted as a communication tool for
conveying important safety messages, and fostered a sense of community and
connection among Instagram users.
Keywords: digital folklore, Easter celebration, COVID-19 pandemic, internet genres,
internet memes, topical jokes
How to cite: Predojević, Ž. (2023). #CovidEaster – Humour in Digital Sharing of Easter
Festive Material During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Slovenský národopis, 71(4), 365–383.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/SN.2023.4.34
Slovenský národopis Slovak Ethnology 471 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/SN.2023.4.34 © Ústav etnológie a sociálnej antropológie SAV, v. v. i.
© 2023, Željko Predojević. This is an open access article licensed under the Creative Commons
#CovidEaster – Humour in the Digital Sharing
of Easter Festive Material During the COVID-19
Pandemic
ŽELJKO PREDOJEVIĆ
ARTICLES
366 Predojević, Ž. (2023). Slovenský národopis, 71 (4), 365–383
It is evident that in modern times, the way holidays are celebrated has changed (Cash,
2011; Hebert, Kallio, Odendaal, 2012; Popelková, 2017). Non-religious elements have
begun to dominate or become equal in importance as religious ones, and consumer
culture elements have become predominant (Barna, 2014; Popelková, 2017: 183;
Popelková, 2023: 131). In the contemporary digital era, social media has also
influenced the transformation of holiday practices by shaping how greetings are
exchanged; virtual messages and festive posts have become commonplace expressions
of celebration (see Hu, 2013; Gooch, Kelly, 2016; Nabity-Grover, Cheung, Thatcher,
2023, ¶ 9). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of social media users
increased (Nabity-Grover et al., 2023, ¶ 1) as people turned to these platforms as safe
spaces. Consequently, due to limitations on physical gatherings during the pandemic,
social platforms became important for celebrating holiday moments and practising
religious rituals1(Parker, Spennemann, 2021; Kapoor, Belk, Goulding, 2022). The
human needs for socialisation and sharing, especially during the holidays, have
shifted to the safe space of social media, where users engage in more frequent
self-disclosure (see Nabity-Grover et al., 2023, ¶ 2).
As one of the fundamental characteristics of contemporary internet communication
is the practice and spread of humour (Shifman, 2007: 187; Laineste, Voolaid, 2016:
27; Yus, 2021a: 1), and as humour plays an important role in creating solidarity and
identity within computer-mediated communication (Baym, 2004; Vásquez, 2019: 30),
many users turned to humour as a way to celebrate Easter during the coronavirus
pandemic. Viewing humorous holiday posts on social media provided comfort. The
interaction among internet users in creating, sharing, and commenting on humorous
internet genres influenced the formation of collective identities within internet
communities and fostered solidarity among them, helping them collectively cope
with the COVID-19 crisis. Humour during the pandemic was also important for
mental well-being and served as a defence mechanism for people to cope with the
situation (Torres-Marín, Navarro-Carrillo, Eid, Carretero-Dios, 2020).
This research therefore aims to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
on the digital sharing of humorous festive material during the Easter holidays in the
context of digital folklore. The analysis will focus on visual-verbal internet genres,
specifically internet memes and their subgenres, like image macro memes, posted on
the social media platform Instagram during the Easter holidays in the early stage of
the COVID-19 pandemic. The study will explore these genres within the broader
1 Given that this study focuses on Easter, which was celebrated during the first wave of the
pandemic when knowledge about the virus was minimal, the role of faith also had a significant
impact (Willot, 2023). Indeed, turning to faith in times of crisis is a historical, cross-national
phenomenon (Ganiel, 2021), and practising religious rituals on social platforms provided
comfort to many. This digital sharing helped to preserve a sense of normalcy and encouraged
a collective experience of celebration. For example, on Good Friday, the Vatican channel
streamed Pope Francis’ worship and passion ceremony live in St. Peter’s Basilica on the YouTube
platform, and many churches offered their services through social media platforms (Ganiel,
2021).
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context of digital folklore, particularly focusing on topical humour with a specific
emphasis on topical (cycle) jokes. Topical jokes tend to arise shortly after a significant
event and maintain popularity for a limited period until the subject matter becomes
less relevant to the public (Laineste, 2002: 8; Marsh, 2019: 218). Although such jokes
were told previously, they have become much more popular since the rise of the
internet and mass media (Davies, 2003: 30; Blank, 2013). The latest significant wave
of such humour revolves around the COVID-19 pandemic (Dynel, 2021; Predojević,
2021a; Torres-Marín et al., 2022).
It is important to consider that Easter occurred during the first wave of the
pandemic and the significant lockdown period when there was limited knowledge
about the virus. Therefore, pandemic-related Easter posts on social media often
directly or indirectly referenced the safety measures that were heavily covered in the
media. Given that these memes frequently emerge as a response to news reported in
the media, Russell Frank (2011: 7) refers to this type of internet genre as newslore.
Additionally, a smaller number of these memes are related to politicians and their
decisions regarding restrictions on Easter celebrations. These memes can be
interpreted within the context of political humour (Young, 2018).
Humorous Internet Genres Studied Within Folklore Genres
With the rise of social media, internet users have become active creators of humour
rather than passive consumers of jokes on internet platforms (Weitz, 2016: 2). As
a result, various internet genres, specically adapted to internet or computer-mediated
communication, have emerged. is study examines the analysis of various visual-verbal
internet genres, mainly focusing on internet memes2and their subgenres. Although
the differences between the analysed internet genres, such as image macro memes3
and viral photos4, are evident, this study considers the genre differences between
them to be insignificant. This is because the analysed visual-verbal internet genres
can be viewed as virtual substitutes for traditional humorous folklore genres like
2 Memes have become a significant object of study for academic research; media and
communication scholars understand them as groups of digital objects collectively created,
transformed, and circulated online (Rogers, Giorgi, 2023). Limor Shifman (2013: 11) defines
an internet meme as: “(a) a group of digital items sharing common characteristics of content,
form, and/or stance; (b) that were created with awareness of each other; and (c) were circulated,
imitated, and/or transformed via the Internet by many users.”
3 One very common, rather large meme is the image macro. An image macro is a set of stylistic
rules for adding text to images. Some image macros involve adding the same text to various
images, and others involve adding different text to a common image (Davison, 2012: 127).
4 Viral photos are an internet genre that often combines photographs with text. However, they
are not variations of the same photo, meaning they do not appear in various versions based on
the same foundation as internet memes. Instead, viral photos are unique instances that quickly
become extremely successful (“viral”) on social media and spread rapidly across the internet
(Shifman, 2014: 66–98, Miltner, 2018: 414).
368 Predojević, Ž. (2023). Slovenský národopis, 71 (4), 365–383
(canned) jokes, forming humorous units of digital culture within the context of
topical humour related to the pandemic during Easter.
What qualifies them as digital folk expressions is the fact that they are not
attributed to a single author. Like traditional folklore expressions, the creation,
dissemination, and reception of these internet genres rely more on the internet
community than on individual contributors (Laineste, Voolaid, 2016: 32). These
online communities of people with shared interests also play a significant role in
shaping their members’ identities (Miltner, 2014; Gal, Shifman, Kampf, 2016; Yus,
2018). Users within these communities interact and engage with each other, creating,
editing, and sharing internet genres like memes for other users of the community,
activities that align with traditional folklore practices (McNeill, 2009: 84; Frank, 2011:
9, de Seta, 2019: 14).
The humorous discourse of internet genres has many structural connections
with oral folklore genres. These internet (humorous) genres often establish a certain
relationship with oral folklore genres, as their structures and content can be recog-
nised in or behave similarly to oral communication (Baran, 2012; Dynel, 2016;
Laineste, Voolaid, 2016; Oring, 2016: 129–146; Predojević, 2021b; Banić Grubišić,
2023). According to Weitz (2016: 1–2), the principles of humour production in
computer-mediated communication on social media remain similar, but the tech-
nologies we use shape the way we joke. Sometimes, simply using familiar genres in
a new context is enough to create humour, as pointed out by Liisi Laineste (2016: 21).
The Methodology
e research was conducted on the social media platform Instagram using hashtags
to collect a digital corpus for analysis. is approach is a common method in scientic
research on digital social platforms, mainly used on Twitter (Small, 2011; Tsur,
Rappoport, 2021) but also adopted on other platforms like Instagram (Higheld,
Leaver, 2015; Ichau, Frissen, d’Haenens, 2019; Kim, Song, Lee, 2020). Hashtags serve
as a convenient and effective way to identify and track specic topics or themes on
social media platforms, providing a means to categorise and organise content. As
Tamara Small (2011: 872) explains, “designated by a ‘hash’ symbol (#), a hashtag is
a keyword assigned to information that describes a post and aids in searching. (...)
Hashtags organize discussion around specic topics or events.”
Furthermore, by using and following the same hashtag, online communities of
users with similar interests are formed. As previously mentioned, these internet
communities of like-minded users take on an identity role and can be considered
online folk groups. Moreover, these communities can be associated with the concept
of bonding (Zappavigna, 2017; Page, 2018: 83–100), which explains the connection
between internet users and their sense of belonging to virtual communities on social
media without direct communication, i.e., the practices that connect them. Michele
Zappavigna (2017: 216) explains bonding through the concept of “ambient affiliation”,
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which refers to social bonding where individual internet users do not necessarily have
to communicate directly to participate in certain forms of “belonging”. Ruth Page
(2018: 96–100) explains bonding among users through the “like” option, which also
indicates taking positions on a particular topic. Through the concept of bonding,
users are seen as a community of like-minded individuals, and the thematic focus of
posts under the mentioned hashtags is a humorous discourse, which plays an
important role in creating solidarity and identity within computer-mediated
communication (Baym, 2004; Vásquez, 2019: 30; Yus, 2021a: 1).
The analysis will focus on humorous content shared on the social networking
platform Instagram, specifically under the hashtag #covideaster or #coronaeaster as
well as its variations (#eastercorona; #eastercovid) during April 2020, specifically
during the Easter holidays. It is important to note that under the same hashtags, there
are a multitude of photographs representing a normal way of celebrating Easter,
featuring decorated holiday tables and other typical non-pandemic Easter motifs.
This suggests that many people have chosen to celebrate the holiday in the usual
manner despite the pandemic. These posts are not included in the further analysis,
as the research specifically targets internet visual-verbal genres related to the
pandemic.
In total, the research includes 61 posts that met the criteria to be considered
internet visual-verbal genres. These analysed examples can be categorised into six
thematic-motif groups related to the portrayal of the Easter holidays during the
Fig. 1. Proportion of Represented Thematic-Motif Groups
370 Predojević, Ž. (2023). Slovenský národopis, 71 (4), 365–383
pandemic. They depict the transformation of holiday motifs in the spirit of the
pandemic, encompassing: 1) traditional Easter symbols (eggs, rabbits and Easter
baskets) with pandemic-related motifs (33); 2) the resurrection of Jesus image macro
memes (8); 3) the popular culture image macro memes (7); 4) the Last Supper
parodies image macro memes (7); 5) political Easter COVID memes (3) and 6)
text-based internet genres (3).
Thematic and Motif Analysis of Internet Visual-Verbal
Genres Focusing on the Humorous Discourse of the Easter
Holiday During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Traditional Easter symbols, such as eggs, rabbits, and baskets, have been creatively
incorporated into pandemic-related memes to add a humorous or satirical twist to
the current situation. This thematic group represents the majority, comprising 54%
of the collected corpus. Examples can be observed in which Easter symbols such as
rabbits or eggs with masks are featured alongside Easter greetings, reminding people
to practice mask-wearing and follow safety protocols. Easter baskets have been
humorously presented with additional items such as hand sanitizers, face masks, and
toilet paper rolls. However, many of these memes also incorporated safety messages
that were prevalent in the media5, such as “Stay home, that’s how we cope” or “Happy
Easter (from 6 feet away)”. Users play with words, using puns and wordplay to create
humorous effects. For instance, one message states that people with “pre-“egg”sisting
conditions” should be particularly cautious, alluding to Easter eggs and vulnerable
groups of people who need to take extra precautions because of pre-existing
conditions like diabetes or other chronic diseases. There are also examples of vulgar
messages that allude to individuals not following safety measures (“Happy Easter.
Stay the Fuck Home.”). During the pandemic, there was an increase in social shaming
of people on social networks who did not follow precautionary measures, especially
during the holiday season (Nabity-Grover et al., 2023, ¶ 2). One of the motifs in this
group of examples is toilet paper, which is shown as part of Easter baskets or as Easter
eggs, alluding to news in the media about the lack of toilet paper due to panic buying.6
Additionally, messages of support and encouragement can be found, where users
uplift and cheer each other on with messages such as “Make the best of it!” These
memes playfully combine the traditional Easter symbols with the pandemic context,
emphasising the importance of staying safe. It is interesting to note that internet
5 See Iftikhar, N. Coronavirus (COVID-19) prevention. Healthline.
https://www.healthline.com/health/coronavirus-prevention(accessed April 8, 2020).
6 See WP Company. Flushing out the true cause of the global toilet paper shortage amid coronavirus
pandemic. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-
toilet-paper-shortage-panic/2020/04/07/1fd30e92-75b5-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html
(accessed April 8, 2020).
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memes in various languages appear under the English hashtag, which indicates the
global nature of internet meme culture.
The Resurrection of Jesus image macro memes form the second most numerous
thematic group, but it is important to note that it is far less represented compared to
the first one, comprising 13% of the examples. These memes incorporate depictions
of the resurrection of Jesus, such as the empty tomb or the ascension, and add
humorous captions related to lockdown or quarantine: “Lockdowns historically
haven’t worked around Easter”; “Due to COVID-19, Jesus will stay in his tomb this
year.” The memes humorously depict photoshopped police officers preventing Jesus
from leaving the tomb, alluding to current pandemic restrictions. Also, they present
typical pandemic-related situations that have emerged, such as the obligation to wear
masks. In one meme, a post-resurrection Jesus states, “So when I came back, everyone
was wearing masks.” Other memes reference social distancing, maintaining safe
distances, and similar measures in memes with the following text: “That’s far enough
Jesus, we’re on lockdown” or “‘I’m off to see the 12 Apostoles.’ ‘No, you’re fucking
not.’” Similar memes have already been studied within religious responses to social
distancing (Campbell, Sheldon, 2021). One meme humorously, yet also advisably,
warns about the deadly risk of infection: “Christ has risen! But you won’t if you die
from COVID-19.” Although the textual messages on these memes are short, there is
a noticeable influence of the typical journalistic discourse used in media reporting
on canceled events7in phrases like “Due to COVID-19, Jesus will stay in his tomb
Fig. 2 Examples of Memes,
Group 1 – Traditional Easter
symbols
7 See Cookies. Gasworks. https://www.gasworks.org.uk/exhibitions/exhibition-cancelled-due-to-
covid-19-outbreak-2020-04-09/ (accessed April 1, 2020); Glasgow’s “Trnsmt” Festival cancelled
due to covid-19 pandemic. DGWGO. https://www.dgwgo.com/music-festivals-news/glasgows-
trnsmt-festival-cancelled-due-to-covid-19-pandemic/ (accessed April 25, 2020).
372 Predojević, Ž. (2023). Slovenský národopis, 71 (4), 365–383
this year” or “Due to coronavirus Jesus is gonna have to stay dead this year”, indicating
that the language of media influences the textual messages in memes (Sámelová,
Stanková, 2018).
e popular culture image macro memes include memes that may not visually relate
to Easter motifs but have been created based on well-known meme templates adapted
to the context of the pandemic and Easter holidays. is group is the third most
represented group with 11% of examples, along with the Last Supper parodies, and its
main theme revolves around Easter holidays in the context of the pandemic using
examples from popular culture. is type of humour within popular culture is a common
motif in disaster jokes (Oring, 1987: 284). ese memes indicate the adaptability of the
meme format to any topic, relying solely on human creativity and ingenuity for their
success. For instance, the Legally Blonde meme illustrates the differences between
a pandemic Easter and the one in 2019, while others like the Guess I’ll die meme8,
Fleabag meme, standing cat meme9, and e Grinch poster parodies10 use humour to
comment on the unique circumstances of the pandemic and Easter.
e Last Supperparodies image macro memes form the third most represented group
with 11% of examples, along with the previous group. e Last Supper parodies are
photoshopped or redrawn images that play off Leonardo da Vinci’s painting depicting
the last supper of Jesus and his twelve disciples.11 ese memes combine the solemnity of
the original artwork with pandemic-related themes and references to create humorous
commentary. One common theme in these memes was the incorporation of social
distancing measures. e original painting depicts Jesus and his apostles gathered closely
Fig. 3 Examples of Memes, Group 2 – Resurrection of Jesus image
macro memes
8 See Qnomei. Guess I’ll die.: Guess I’ll die. Know Your Meme.
https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1231999-guess-ill-die. (accessed February 22, 2018).
9 See CuntLicker. Da F—- Dey doing ova der: Standing cat. Know Your Meme.
https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1856682-standing-cat. (accessed May 31, 2023).
10 Matt. The Grinch poster parodies. Know Your Meme.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-grinch-poster-parodies (accessed October 23, 2018).
11 See Mandrac. The last supper parodies. Know Your Meme.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-last-supper-parodies. (accessed March 14, 2012).
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together at the table, but the parodies would oen modify the scene by placing the
characters at a distance from one another, emphasising the need for social distancing
during the pandemic. Given the surge in online communication during the pandemic,
many Last Supperparody memes reimagined the scene as a virtual gathering via platforms
like Zoom. In one example, a phrase spoken when a person crosses themselves, “In the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” is paraphrased into “Father, Zoom, and Holy
Spirit”. Characters would be depicted in separate video call windows, oen with humorous
additions such as technical difficulties: “OK, OK. Hello everyone. Judas you on?”, or Jesus
sitting alone at the table with a notebook in front of him, indicating the current situation
of social distancing, staying at home, and using video calls to connect with friends and
family during Easter celebrations. Also, this image macro meme comes in different
languages like those mentioned before.
Fig. 4 Examples of Memes, Group 3 – The popular culture image macro
memes
Fig. 5 Examples of Memes, Group 4 – The Last Supper
Parodies
374 Predojević, Ž. (2023). Slovenský národopis, 71 (4), 365–383
Political Easter COVID memes combine political themes with the context of the
COVID-19 pandemic and Easter celebrations. They feature political figures who are
associated with decision-making related to the pandemic. Although this group of
memes is the least represented with only 5% of examples, alongside text-based
internet genres, it is not unimportant for the complete interpretation of Easter
holidays in the spirit of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are only three memes like
this, one portraying Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, Canada, and two of them
portraying Donald Trump, the president of the USA in the time of the pandemic.
One of the memes refers to the controversy between Donald Trump and Dr Anthony
Fauci about the measures that should have been observed at the beginning of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Donald Trump hoped to jumpstart the American economy
by Easter by slowly reducing the measures,12 to which Dr Fauci replied that he cannot
make a timeline; rather, the timeline should be determined according to the behavior
and spread of the virus.13 Another meme portraying the American president shows
him as infected with the coronavirus. Users of this meme allude to disagreeing with
his political decisions. The meme portraying the Canadian prime minister as
a chocolate rabbit refers to his decision that despite the pandemic, all children should
receive a chocolate rabbit,14 which caused a lot of public reaction due to fear of
spreading the infection. The memes use their images or quotes as a basis for humour
or critique regarding news reports about political decisions during the pandemic.
Therefore, they can be analysed within the context of political humour, where satire
plays an important role (Young, 2018). Political actors are inherently subjected to
satirical depictions within humorous internet genres (Chagas, Freire, Rios, Magalhães,
2020). Statements made by Donald Trump during the pandemic served as motivation
for the creation of humorous memes, extending beyond the borders of the United
States. His remarks and actions related to the pandemic often garnered attention and
became subjects of satire and parody in internet meme culture globally (Predojević,
2021a: 8).
Text-based internet genres form the least represented group with only 5% of
examples, alongside political memes. Within this category, three instances of
text-based visual-verbal artefacts of digital culture exist. They cannot be classified as
internet memes because for a piece of content to become memetic, users need to
modify it; if a piece of content is passed along intact and unaltered, it is viral, not
12 See Lopez, G. Why Trump’s goal to end social distancing by Easter is so dangerous. Vox.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/24/21193165/coronavirus-trump-press-brief
ing-social-distancing-experts. (accessed March 24, 2020).
13 See LeBlanc, P. Fauci: “You don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline” on relaxing
public health measures | CNN politics. CNN.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/25/politics/anthony-fauci-coronavirus-timeline-cnntv/
index.html. (accessed March 26, 2020).
14 See Patton, J. Premier Doug Ford declares Easter Bunny “essential service” amid COVID-19
outbreak. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/6789878/coronavirus-easter-bunny-
essential-service-ontario/. (accessed April 8, 2020).
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memetic (Miltner, 2018: 414). These examples are classic oral jokes written as statuses
on social media, which are then screenshotted and posted on Instagram as photos.
One example within this category humorously points out the changes in the way
Easter was celebrated before the pandemic, particularly referring to celebrating the
Easter holidays through travelling, as previously indicated by scholars studying
transformations in holiday celebrations (Popelková, 2017: 183). The viral post
humorously suggests “travelling” to the living room or bedroom due to movement
restrictions, playfully acknowledging the impossibility of travelling to typical holiday
destinations. Another example deviates from the Easter holidays directly, but the user
cleverly uses the #eastercovid hashtag to emphasise the irony of pandemic-related
holiday situations.
Analysis of Humorous Discourse and Easter Portrayal
in Internet Genres
Through thematic and motivational analysis of selected examples, it is evident that
humorous discourse emerged as a reaction of internet users to the newly arising
situations during the Easter celebrations amid the pandemic. Many examples are
responses to news in the media (see examples from groups 1 and 5), which is inherent
to topical jokes (Frank, 2011). Internet genres that emerged in response to media
news also indicate issues encountered during attempts to contain the initial wave of
Fig. 7 Examples of Memes, Group 6 – Text-based internet genres
Fig. 6 Examples of Memes, Group 5 – Political memes
376 Predojević, Ž. (2023). Slovenský národopis, 71 (4), 365–383
the pandemic when knowledge about the virus-induced disease was minimal. As
Easter holidays traditionally entail gatherings with family, internet memes emphasised
the importance of adhering to precautionary measures. Since this thematic cycle of
humour is conditioned by the pandemic, a natural disaster, and the way it is portrayed
in the media, it can also be analysed in the context of disaster humour (Oring, 1987;
Davies, 2003; Predojević, 2021a). According to some scholars, disaster humour serves
as a form of collective mental hygiene and a defence mechanism (Blank, 2013: 23;
Dundes, 1987), while others believe that such humour arises purely for entertainment
purposes (Davies, 2003: 33). Satirical depictions criticise statements made by political
leaders, clearly pointing out their controversial nature and expressing the
dissatisfaction of internet users with these decisions (see examples from group 5).
Humour plays a significant role in the formation of group solidarity and identity in
computer-mediated communication (Baym, 2004; Vásquez, 2019: 30). Therefore, it
can be concluded that a humorous depiction of Easter holidays during the
coronavirus pandemic brings internet users closer together, especially those who use
the same hashtag. Humour during the pandemic is crucial for mental well-being and
serves as a coping mechanism through which people confront the situation. However,
it is essential to be mindful of negative reactions to such humour; it may offend
religious individuals, given that it parodies one of the most important Christian
holidays. Previous studies on religious memes have already highlighted the
importance of understanding the context in their analysis. Analysing and interpreting
humour, especially in the context of religious themes, requires a thoughtful and
nuanced understanding of the underlying social, cultural, and historical factors to
ensure a comprehensive perspective on its implications (Bellar et al., 2013).
In studies analysing humour in visual-verbal digital folklore expressions, it is
noted that the humorous effect arises from a specific type of incongruity resolution
(Oring, 2016: 16–33, Marković, 2019: 218–221) where the humorous clash occurs
(Kuipers, 2002; 2005), there are contradictions or incompatibility of elements (Baran,
2012), or the incongruity resolution is achieved through different combinations of
visual and verbal elements (Dynel, 2016; Yus, 2021b). Indeed, this can be observed
in examples of pandemic Easter memes, where traditional Easter symbols or religious
motifs of resurrection are combined with seemingly unrelated pandemic themes,
resulting in a humorous clash. The ways of creating a humorous effect in the case of
visual-verbal humorous internet genres are associated with both the visual and verbal
elements of the examples. In most cases, the photographic background provides the
context, while the verbal message delivers the incongruent punchline (see examples
of group 2 memes).
In most analysed examples, allusion is used to achieve a humorous situation. For
instance, in the case of memes from the second and fourth groups, there is a visual
allusion to Jesus’ resurrection or Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, combined with text
contributing to the creation of a humorous clash. In the examples from the popular
culture group, image macro memes use a well-known visual template that does not
represent Easter symbols, while the verbal part alludes to it. Irony is also a common
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stylistic figure, where the humorous effect is achieved through the incongruity of
verbal messages and visual templates, i.e., the verbal message conflicts what is uttered
with what is (antithetically) meant (Dynel, 2018: 91). One example is portraying toilet
paper as Easter eggs (see the last example in the first group). Such an ironic approach
to humorous discourse is common in computer-mediated communication (Alamán,
Rueda, 2016). The verbal part of the message is usually directly related to the Easter
conditions during the pandemic, but there are also examples where the humorous
situation is achieved through intertextuality (Laineste, Voolaid, 2018), where the
incongruity resolution occurs by fitting a certain well-known text into the newly
created situation, i.e., it is recontextualised. In an already mentioned example, a phrase
spoken when a person crosses themselves, “In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit”, the word “Son” is replaced with the word “Zoom”, a digital platform for video
calls that was most used during the pandemic. Besides intertextuality, paraphrasing
movie titles (How the Grinch Stole Christmas to How the Virus Stole Easter), or visual
interventions, like photoshopping the image of the US president into photographic
templates, are also observed. In these examples, elements from tradition, art history,
and well-known movie titles are evoked, but they are applied to entirely unexpected
experiences, leading to a short circuit and thus a humorous effect (see also Predojević,
2021b).
Although the analysed corpus comes from various countries, there are only three
examples not in the English language. is can be explained by the fact that English is
the lingua franca of social media (Laineste, Voolaid, 2018: 27; Szerszunowicz, 2018: 4).
Even when the examples are not in English, they are found under an English-language
hashtag. is further emphasises the fact that internet memes are a global phenomenon,
and hashtags are a popular way of tagging posts among users as well as an efficient way
of searching for digital content on social media platforms. Additionally, it should be
emphasised that in the analysed material, there is a signicant inuence of (American)
popular culture. is can be explained by the fact that such popular culture is a common
motif in disaster humor (Oring, 1987: 284).
Regarding the ways of portraying Easter holidays on social media platforms
before, during, and after the pandemic, it is observed that the first and second
analysed groups of memes are most similar to the typical representations of Easter
on social media, which can be seen using the hashtag #easter. Specifically, these are
the most common Easter symbols – Easter eggs, bunnies, Easter baskets, and the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, during the pandemic Easter, these representations
differ by incorporating typical pandemic motifs such as bunnies and eggs wearing
masks, Easter baskets with pandemic supplies, and depictions of Jesus’ tomb with
pandemic-inspired captions, etc. Nevertheless, they still convey a typical but modified
Easter image in the spirit of the COVID-19 pandemic. The four other analysed groups
show more significant deviations from the typical Easter image on social media
before/after the pandemic. While Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper is associated with
the final days of Jesus Christ, it was not frequently used in Easter portrayal on digital
platforms until the pandemic, when it was modified in various ways to fit the
378 Predojević, Ž. (2023). Slovenský národopis, 71 (4), 365–383
pandemic context. During the pre-pandemic period, political memes were not
a typical representation of the Easter season, as politics did not have a significant
impact on the organisation of the Easter holidays. However, during the pandemic,
politicians emphasised the ban on gatherings, and interestingly, in the early stage of
the pandemic analysed in this study, political decisions allowing gatherings during
the holiday period were criticised by internet users. Consistent with the most
common way of presenting disaster topical jokes, one of the frequent ways of
representing Easter during the pandemic was through popular culture (Oring, 1987:
284). Various popular meme templates were creatively used to illustrate the
differences in celebrating Easter on social media platforms during the pandemic. In
text-based genres, a commentary on the changes in the way Easter is celebrated in
the modern era can be noticed, where religious practices have been replaced by new
ways of observing the Easter holidays, such as travelling and other consumerist
practices of society. From these examples, it can be concluded that a humorous
portrayal of a pandemic Easter does not differ much from a humorous portrayal of
a pandemic in general, where internet memes and other online genres mainly used
humorous situations to warn about adhering to measures and were inspired by news
from the media but also had a role in bringing internet users together, creating
solidarity among them and helping them collectively overcome the coronavirus crisis
(Dynel, 2021; Predojević, 2021b; Torres-Marín et al., 2022).
Conclusion
The study is focused on the role of humour in the digital sharing of Easter festive
material during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of digital folklore.
Visual-verbal humorous internet genres were analysed under specific Easter
pandemic hashtags. These genres were examined as digital folklore and in relation
to classic jokes. They were observed in the context of topical humour as they were
relevant during the time when the coronavirus topic was current; in the context of
newslore, as they humorously comment on and criticise the news that appeared in
the media; in the context of political humour, as some of them satirically portray
decisions made by politicians; and finally in the context of disaster humour, as they
humorously depict problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The study identified six thematic-motif groups, with the most numerous
portraying typical Easter symbols with pandemic themes (54%), such as an Easter
bunny wearing a protective mask. The second largest group consisted of memes
depicting the resurrection of Jesus Christ (13%), also with pandemic-related messages
about the importance of staying at home. The purpose of memes in these two groups
was mainly to remind users to follow the pandemic measures aimed at preventing
the spread of the virus. It was concluded that these two groups closely resemble the
typical portrayal of Easter on social media before and after the pandemic, as they
show a typical Easter image adapted to the pandemic time. The other four groups
379
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deviate more from the typical Easter image on social media. These groups include
those oriented towards popular culture (11%), parodies of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last
Supper (11%), memes expressing dissatisfaction with political decisions during the
Easter lockdown (5%), and screenshots of pandemic-related Easter jokes (5%). Except
for the examples of parodies of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, which also serve as
reminders to follow precautionary measures, the other mentioned examples portray
atypical Easter images on social media. They either parody the extraordinary
situation using popular culture references or provide political commentary, which
does not align with typical Easter portrayals on social media before or after the
pandemic.
As inherent in visual-verbal humorous expressions, the humorous effect in these
examples is most often achieved through incongruity resolution, where the
photographic background primarily provides the context and the verbal message
delivers an incongruent punchline. Stylistic devices also contribute to the humorous
effect, with allusion being the most common in these visual-verbal genres, along with
the presence of irony and paraphrasing.
It can be concluded that a humorous presentation of a pandemic Easter does not
differ much from a humorous presentation of the COVID-19 pandemic in general.
The lockdown resulted in increased social media usage, and as one of the
fundamental characteristics of contemporary internet communication is the practice
and spread of humour, internet users started to create and share humorous internet
genres. They were mainly used to deliver humorous messages with warnings to take
precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus and were inspired by news
from the media but also provided support and encouragement to other users and
fostered a sense of community and connection, offering a means of coping with the
situation. However, they do show a difference in the representation of Easter on social
media during the pandemic within the context of politics, popular culture, classic
jokes, and parodies of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, which were not as common
before it.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ŽELJKO PREDOJEVIĆ (ORCID: 0000-0003-0064-4108) – is an independent folklore
researcher. He obtained his PhD in 2017 from the Faculty of Humanities and Social
Sciences at the University of Zagreb. In his research, he focuses on topics related to the
southern Baranja region in Croatia, pre-Christianity, and digital folklore. He has
worked as a schoolteacher and as a lector of Croatian language and literature at the
Faculty of Humanities of the University of Pécs (2010–2013) and at the Faculty of Arts
of Comenius University in Bratislava (2015–2021).
