Rather than concentrating on the organised visual communication of such discourses by far-right parties and movements, this article is more interested in the discursive (re)production and reception of nostalgic far-right imagery among certain groups of social media users. It studies digital imagery because to date the exploration of far-right discourses on social media and Internet platforms has, with some exceptions, predominantly focussed on the analysis of textual material. This article explores the role that digital images, specifically Internet memes, play in the normalisation of nostalgic far-right discourses within social media and broader digital settings. Social media settings also provide an opportunity to discern how and to what extent far-right discourses, nostalgic or otherwise, are being normalised. The intermingling of these discourses is especially prevalent in social media settings where they often appear more as a bottom-up crowdsourced phenomena created by numerous individuals with varying degrees of commitment to and knowledge about them, rather than as a result of a fully formed top-down political ideology consensually held by all members to underpin a party or movement. These discourses intermingle to form what can be pragmatically conceived as a broader far-right discourse. These discourses are difficult to isolate and define conclusively but generally they are: ultra and ethno-nationalist, and thus regularly racist and white supremacist nativist, monocultural and anti-pluralist, and thus often anti-immigrant and anti-multiculturalist gender conservative and essentialist, and thus regularly sexist, anti-feminist, and anti-LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) populist and reactionary, and thus often anti-establishment and anti-globalist and anti-difference, and thus regularly discriminatory against any form of alterity including disability. Such views are typically shared by those far-right parties and movements that are also commonly heralded as having effectively leveraged the power of the Internet and social media platforms in order to popularise their political agendas and normalise their characteristic discourses. Furthermore, it found that these citizens were more likely to have anti-immigrant opinions, be EU sceptic, and politically prioritise the fight against terrorism. It found that 67 percent of the 10,885 European Union (EU) citizens surveyed could be classified as nostalgic and in turn that 53 percent of those citizens identified with positions on the right of the political spectrum. The report illustrated just how receptive public opinion has become to such discourses in Europe. As a Bertelsmann Stiftung report recently acknowledged, the notion that life was better in the past is being used by various political actors as an ‘instrument for agitation’ and to fuel ‘dissatisfaction with present-day politics and anxiety about the future’. Results: The modes, media and moods of nostalgia in SUFSĬonclusion: Remixing the past for a restorative futureĪcross the world, far-right movements and political parties are gaining in strength, in part because of the nostalgic discourses they peddle. Material, method and ethical considerations Mediatised nostalgia, digitised far-right discourse and memetic hate Unpacking these modes and moods, the article also highlights some of the nostalgic tensions at play in the group, indicating the need to rethink broader understandings of far-right nostalgia and calling for further research into how it can be used to veil hate in digital settings. Through the application of an array of critical visual analysis methods it reveals that the nostalgia that disguises hateful far-right discourses in the group is not merely a reflection of that peddled by Sweden’s organised far-right political parties and movements but a complex crowdsourced amalgam involving different nostalgic modes and moods. This article analyses 262 memes, the majority image-macros, posted to a large Swedish anti-immigration Facebook group in order to explore the memetic normalisation of far-right nostalgia. Sweden now: The memetic normalisation of far-right nostalgia
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