What Does It All Meme?: The Influence of Memes and Tweets on People's Perceptions of Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde

Abstract

This thesis explores the possible influence memes and tweets have on people’s perceptions of authors, focussing on Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde. The thesis will use the most common academic debates and their themes as the state of the art. Memes and tweets have been collected for the purpose of this thesis, all relating to Austen and Wilde or their works. These memes and tweets will be analysed and then compared to the state of the art in order to explore whether the content from memes and tweets differ from academic debates. Lastly, questionnaires have been conducted to gauge whether respondents have similar perceptions as those presented by memes and tweets, as perhaps the respondents have been influenced in their perceptions by memes and tweets. The thesis works within the premise of the Heritage Industry and the concept of afterlives, as memes and tweets, and people’s perceptions of authors all contribute to the afterlives of authors.