What do we see here?
The setting is the Bulgarian National Assembly hall. The big podium is where the chairman and the deputy chairmen of the Assembly preside over the sessions. The small dais is where MPs speak. Instead, the two women and the two men in the back are representatives of lowbrow Bulgarian culture and at the dais is Slavi Trifonov in his role as a singer in concert prior to his political role as leader of the There Is Such a Nation party. The caption in Cyrillic on the wall, The 45th National Assembly, is added to the original setting. The two women and the man on the right are pop-folk or chalga music singers, a mixture of Balkan, Oriental and Gypsy rhythms and melodies often with vulgar and profane lyrics about money, cars, women and power easily obtained. Chalga music is considered kitsch and has nothing in common with Bulgarian folk music. Slavi Trifonov’s music is not exactly chalga, yet his lyrics often are: they are predominantly about the dominant male. He is generally believed to be one of the country’s promoters and advocates of chalga.
Which public issue is being addressed here?
The meme is about the short life of the 45th National Assembly and the inability of political parties to form a government. The There Is Such a Nation party obtained the second mandate which they returned immediately with the excuse that they would be unable to get enough seats in the Assembly with two of the opposition parties, the only parties (right-centrist) they could form a coalition with. One more party returned the mandate, leading to an interim government appointed by the President and an early election on July 11, 2021, the second parliamentary election in three months.
What does the humour do?
The humour resides in the visual incongruity and juxtaposition between the original setting and the people placed in the setting. Very often internet memes reproduce real-life incongruity – in this context the incongruity between a former TV talk show host and singer and a politician now – Slavi Trifonov – and they only augment the original incongruity through the alternation and transformation of images and/or text. As a creation of multiple users, internet memes are interesting most of all as an unceasing process of expressing an opinion, a way of making sense of one’s life experiences, as an emotional response.
What do we see here?
In the meme, the heads from left to right are of Todor Zhivkov, the general secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party and Prime Minister for 35 years before the democratic changes in Bulgaria in 1989, of Boyko Borisov, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2009 to 2021 and leader of the GERB party (Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, right-centrist) and Slavi Trifonov, leader of the There Is Such a Nation party. The bodies are of The Three Fools, a successful prize-winning animation TV series from 1970 to 1990 created by Donyo Donev, comics-artist and cartoonist. The caption at the top reads: “Evolution of the Bulgarian politician”.
Which public issue is being addressed here?
In the parliamentary elections on July 11, 2021 for the 46th National Assembly, the There Is Such a Nation party got the most votes. The party came up with two proposals for a candidate Prime Minister and candidate ministers, using a take-it-or-leave-it strategy directed at the opposition parties they could form a government with and blaming them for the failure to come to an agreement. The 46th National Assembly was dissolved on September 16, 2021 and a date for the next parliamentary elections was set – November 14 – the third elections of 2021.
What does the humour do?
Humour in the meme is triggered by the visual intertextuality and the caption: the three fools in the animation series are now the three politicians. Humour addresses the voters’ distrust and disappointment with the politicians’ inability for joint decision and political action.