What does it Meme? Public History in the Internet Memes Era

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to investigate the risks and the potentialities ofinternet memes (units of culture spreading online from user to user and mutatingalong the way) in terms of historical narration on digital platforms. After exploringtheir definition and evolution from the 1980s to recent years, it will be highlightedhow history is represented through this online phenomenon. This chapter providessome examples taken mostly from Italian Facebook pages or groups that combineforms of popular culture with figures or topics of the past, in order to examinewhich challenges and ethical issues public historians may encounter when workingwith this digital tool.