A metaphorical image of German parliamentary elections in political Internet memes

The article is devoted to the study of political Internet memes by analyzing verbal and visual texts in the German media space covering the topic of the parliamentary elections to the Bundestag in 2025. The Internet meme is considered as a type of creolized text in which the situation of social communication is expressed by a verbal element and supplemented by a visual component. The aim of the study is to identify the main structural and semantic components of the Internet meme that contribute to the formation of a metaphorical image of political elections as a reflection of public opinion. Theoretically and methodologically, this work is based on scientific research on creolized texts, as well as the Internet meme as a linguistic phenomenon. The scientific novelty of the work lies in studying the content and structure of the political Internet meme as a type of creolized text using the components of the modern joke model with setup and punchline, which contribute to the creation of metaphorical images when considering a certain political situation. The study substantiates the methodology for analyzing an Internet meme as a type of modern joke, which has its key components, setup and punchline, with the help of which the comic effect is realized. It is confirmed that Internet memes are the most important means of virtual communication and a reflection of social changes, as well as a significant way of expressing public opinion. A number of metaphorical images embedded in Internet memes are identified, which reflect the attitude of the German electorate to the parliamentary elections of 2025.