From Homefront to Hashtags: Memes, Power, and the Voices of Reservists' Wives
From Homefront to Hashtags: Memes, Power, and the Voices of Reservists' Wives
This talk explores how digital humor operates as a means of expressing critique in contexts where overt political dissent is constrained. Focusing on memes shared by members of a Facebook support group for Israeli reservist soldiers’ wives during the Israel-Hamas war, the study examines how digital humor serves as a vehicle for negotiating personal and collective tensions. Using thematic and critical discourse analysis, the speaker identifies four spheres of critique—directed at spouses, immediate social circles, institutional structures, and broader social expectations. These memes express frustration and resistance not through direct confrontation, but through irony, satire, and humor, allowing women to articulate grievances while maintaining alignment with dominant national narratives in Israel.
Dr. Elie Friedman is a visiting lecturer of Israel Studies at the University of Maryland in fall 2025. He serves as Senior Lecturer and Head of the Communications Division within the Department of Multidisciplinary Studies at Ashkelon Academic College, as well as teaching fellow at the School of Communication (international program), Bar-Ilan University. He received his PhD at the Department of Journalism and Communication at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2016) and subsequently served as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Linguistics, Lancaster University.
His research interests include political and media discourse in national and international contexts with an emphasis on changing technologies, polarization, and peace and conflict studies. Utilizing a multi-disciplinary approach, which combines discourse pragmatics, critical discourse analysis, journalism studies, public diplomacy, and deliberative democracy, his research examines how various discursive strategies contribute to self-other relations in conflictual situations within Israel and between Israel and its neighbors. He is widely published in leading communication and discourse journals, including Communication Review (2025), Journal of Communication (2024), and Language & Communication (2023), and has published two books (one a monograph and one edited volume).