Description
This paper analyzes misogynistic memes as expressions of digital participatory cultures that are increasingly becoming the central sites of virulent and volatile political discourse within the context of the rise of right-wing authoritarianism in India. It seeks to contribute to the burgeoning literature on linkages between visuality and violence by decentring and understanding anti-feminist backlash from the hindu- far right perspective. The paper investigates the rise of the alt-right online ecosystem with self-styled civilisational warriors named ‘trads’ and ‘raitas’ spreading dehumanizing narratives about Muslim women. The commodification of muslim women reflects a troubling intersection between digital ecosystem dynamics and the far right. Through widely circulated memes that coalesce into the larger discourse on the self and the other in the digital context, these far-right groups routinely target and harass muslim women vocal against extremist Hindu nationalism. Memes are carriers of socially mediated popular imaginary that insinuates threat to and feeds into the anxiety of a Hindu majority. The study of the alt-right memetic political discourse in India, helps in understanding the larger global language of online culture wars whilst simultaneously reimagining identity construction in the digital realm.
