Luther vs. Pepe: An Articulation of Media Ecologies

While Luther’s 95 theses and the rise of Pepe the Frog in the context of Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential Campaign took place almost 500 years apart, they both exemplify strong notions of different media ecologies. However, I will be focusing on the third articulation that concentrates on “spacio-temporal dynamics of relations of creativity and production, relations of distribution and circulation, and relations of consumption and reception,” (Herman).

In the 16^th century, knowledge was localized based on where they lived or what they experienced (Herman, November 3, 2016). The only way to understand things outside of lived experiences was to hear about it by word of mouth by others in the community. Martin Luther’s 95 Theses stemmed from his religious agitation with the selling of indulgences, and so he nailed a copy that was written in Latin on the doors of the church. At first, the only way that someone could understand it is if they read Latin or had the ability to physically go up to the church doors to read it. Other than that, word of mouth had to relay the message across space.

After time, the 95 Theses were presented in the form of a pamphlet and was beneficial due to its small size, cheap cost of production, and light weight (Herman, November 8, 2016). People started to buy the pamphlets and lend it to others, travelling from person to person. Because of the physical pamphlets, the readers who participated in the circulation of Luther’s Theses “took care of distribution, deciding collectively which messages to amplify through sharing, recommendation and copying,” (Standage, 53-54). In this sense, Luther’s 95 theses went “viral” as soon as the printers realized how popular it was, and made more to keep up with the demand (Standage, 53). The circulation of pamphlets became more widespread and not only encouraged social change, but also influenced a new movement due to the huge reception. The “social sharing” of Luther’s 95 Theses became bigger than he even imagined, but he ultimately formed a new campaign by which gained many followers (Standage, 53).

Although Luther’s campaign was religious in nature and went viral through print as a medium, Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential Campaign is another movement that went viral. However, instead of print, the uses of the meme “Pepe the Frog” allowed for Trump’s campaign to make use of social media as a way to go viral. Pepe the Frog “had been a symbol of the disenfranchised, social outcasts” which appealed to Trump’s target audiene (Williams). He is a hate symbol and represents anti-Semitism, but that has not always been the case. Pepe the Frog is constantly recontextualized by users because of the circulation across the Internet. Almost anyone can access an image of Pepe the Frog, making it easy to save, reproduce, recontextualize, distribute it, then circulate it. Pepe the Frog inhibited political connotations that reflected the negative attributes that was also associated with Donald Trump, making the memes appeal to younger audiences since they were typically the ones on social media. By using social media platforms, the campaigns encouraged younger crowds to vote for political change, just as the circulation of Luther’s Theses encouraged religious change.

Works Cited

Herman, Andrew. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo. 3 November 2016. Lecture.

Herman, Andrew. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo. 8 November 2016. Lecture.

Standage, Tom. Writing on the Wall: Social Media -- the First 2,000 Years. New York, NY: Bloomsbury, 2013. Print.

Williams, Alex. "How Pepe the Frog and Nasty Woman Are Shaping the Election." The New York Times, 28 Oct. 2016.