When absurd and reality collide: A look into the millennial humour

“I feel sorry for nonsense, because up to now it has so seldom been artistically molded.”

The following line is a quote from Kurt Schwitters, one of the artists belonging to the Dada era in art. Dada was an artistic and literary movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland. It came up as a reaction to the post World War 1 state and the nationalism that many thought led to the war.

The movement then developed into an anarchist art movement whose main aim was to subvert and undermine the value system of the ruling establishment which led to the First World War. It became “anti-art”.

To quote Hugo Ball, the writer of the first Dada Manifesto, “It is true that for us, art is not an end in itself, we have lost too many of our illusions for that. Art for us is an occasion for social criticism, and for real understanding of the age we live in. Dada was not a school of artists but an alarm signal against declining value, routine and speculations, a desperate appeal, on behalf of all forms of art, for a creative basis on which to build a new and universal consciousness of art.”

Fast forward to 2018 and the movement seems to be going strong still; in the form of memes-an image template used in the form of humour, one which is usually satiric and ironic. Going beyond the host of meaningless memes and images, there are a lot of Facebook pages that revolve around the ideology of Dada- the Neo Dada and absurd humour.

Although on the surface, the memes shared by millenials comes off as meaningless and nonsensical; one should note the trend of dissonance that has led to this. Millenials and generation Z find it unable to relate to the previous generations; and they do not fail to express their resentment through images and humour which is not just “weird” but also is filled with confusion and disillusionment from the society as a whole.

“We feel like we need this. We aren’t old enough to change anything and aren’t young enough to not have an opinion about things that bother us. We are stuck at a point where we’re too young for some and too old for most. If I try to keep my opinion in front of people that are twice my age, they will tell me that I’m not mature enough to understand how it works and I should stick to my phone and not take part in adult conversations. And this is most of our generation. Memes are our way of revolting, of speaking up because the internet is literally a voice for anyone who uses it. I feel heard and relatable every time I share a meme mocking the things that confuses and bother us”, says Harshita Chhatlani, a second year student from Bangalore.

With pages such as “Cheerful Nihilism”, discussions on philosophy have known to increase with each post. There is a certain discourse that takes place that one would find unusual on an internet page; let alone a meme page. From talking philosophy to sharing a sharing an out of context screenshot of a movie or a television show, the current younger generation can find relevance in anything. Not to mention that the ironic humour and satire does manage to point out all of what is wrong with the current society, be it capitalism or mass shooting or LGBT rights or mental health advocacy.

“There was a student suicide in Bombay last year. After that, there were a lot of memes pointing out the toxic culture of student suicide in India. There was a whole force of memes talking about students committing suicides in India which wasn’t really covered by the conventional media. Honestly, memes are pretty useful and effective since they directly relate to the main consumers of the internet, the millenials. Maybe at a particular time, it might come off as offensive when people address a certain issue through a meme. Many people might not like it, but the absurdity of humour in which memes are created is actually very effective in spreading awareness”, adds Dheeraj Shah, a student of Psychology.

It is suffice to say that at this time and age, with the internet being democratized and children as young as 14-15 using social media, humour has changed drastically. There might not be galleries that put up paintings of Mona Lisa with a moustache or a pipe saying “this is not a pipe”, the walls on Facebook and the news feed on Instagram have become an art gallery for the young; where pictures of a lizard with an out-of-context dialogue can be shared and resonated by thousands who feel quite the “same tbh (to be honest).”

That is where the absurd comes in. A prime example of such humour is the Facebook page, “Simpsons pictures that I gone and done”, by cartoonist Chris Simpson.

Pictured here: One of the cartoons drawn by Chris Simpson

Pictured here: an image posted on the Facebook page, “Memes that are okay sometimes”

The lack of context in such humour appeals to the millennial mindset of self-depreciation and irony.

Oxford dictionary defines “meme” as an element of culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means. From rage comics that posted cliché jokes in image form, memes have developed into a “culture” that has started a discourse on topics ranging from philosophy to mental health to LGBT+.

Pictured here: One of the images taken from “Memes that are okay sometimes”

One other such page like Chris Simpson’s, “Lord Birthday” is another example of absurd humour. The artist behind the page is known to draw listicles suggesting things which are far from the norm.

Pictured here: an image by Lord Birthday

One of the posts by the admin of “Memes that are okay sometimes” perfectly sums up the meme culture among the current generation of youngsters that says, “Sometimes, we challenge the mainstream views of what memes should be. We break down those barriers that are stopping memes from achieving their full potential; A fully fledged ART form.”

The current youth doesn’t need context or a build up when for them, everything problematic situation is a possible meme. “It might not be the solution to our problems but pointing out how funny it is, by making it weird surely helps a bit”, says Ananya Biswal, a second year mass communication from Bhubaneswar.

Main photo courtesy: Marcel Duchamp, L.H.O.O.Q, 1919.