Memes, Monsters, and the Digital Grotesque

Memes, Monsters, and the Digital Grotesque looks at the emerging and thriving new genre of digital horror from an innovative perspective. Examining digital cultural production during the period that has been referred to as the 'Arab Winter', Moreno-Almeida delves into the memes, animated cartoons, music videos, and expressive cultures ^—^ like fashion and urban subcultures ^—^ that emerged between 2016 and 2020. In revealing concealed narratives underlying the digital lives of artists, as well as ordinary people, Moreno-Almeida explores how memes, horror, and the grotesque capture a moment infused with political and affective significance, characterized by despair, alienation, and anomie, alongside opportunities for creative experimentation made possible in the postdigital era.

Cristina Moreno-Almeida, Lecturer in Digital Cultures & Arabic Cultural Studies, Queen Mary University of London

Dr. Cristina Moreno-Almeida is a Lecturer in Digital Culture and Arabic Cultural Studies at Queen Mary University of London and Fellow at the Queen Mary Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences. She has worked at the Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London, and the Middle East Centre and the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. Her research interests lie at the intersection of aesthetics, politics, and cultural production. She has published on rap music, memes, the politics of resistance, nationalism, and online far-right cultures. She is the Principal Investigator of the UKRI (ERC nominated) project 'Digital Al-Andalus: Radical Perspectives Of and Through Al-Andalus' (2023-2024) which looks at the melding of historical episodes, nostalgia for lost empires, cultural difference, and violent actions on digital media.

List of FiguresAcknowledgementsNote on Translations, Transcriptions, and TransliterationsTable 1: Transliteration of Arabic Letters1. IntroductionPart 1: The Poetics of Digital Horror2. The Digital Grotesque3. The Case for (Decolonial Horror)Part 2: Stories of the Undead4. Animating the Living Dead5. Policing the Borders of AbnormalityPart 3: Home Wreckers6. Diaries of a Monstrous Woman7. Dis-Meme-Bering the NationPart 4: Desiring the Grotesque8. Monstrous Speech9. Ghosts of a 'Cool' Past10. Conclusion: The Unbearable Afterlives of MemesBibliographyIndex