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Revision as of 06:12, 26 March 2012
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Polandball is a user-generated internet meme which originated on the /INT/ board of German imageboard Krautchan.net in the latter half of 2009.
Polandball has it roots in an August 2009 cyberwar between Polish internet users and the rest of the world on drawball.com. The website, which offers a virtual canvas, allows internet users to draw whatever they want, and to draw over other's drawings. On the Polish internet, an idea was raised to draw the Polish flag on the ball, and with assistance of thousands of Poles, they managed to takeover the drawball with a painting of white on top of red, with the word "POLSKA" written in the middle. After co-ordination from 4chan, this was then taken over by the drawing of a giant swastika.
Krautchan.net is a German-language imageboard, with it's /INT/ board being frequented by English-speaking netizens. The beginning of the Polandball meme is credited to Falco, a Brit on /INT/, whom in September 2009, created the meme using MS Paint in an apolitical way to troll Wojak, a Pole on the same board who contributes in broken English, after which Polandball cartoons were enthusiastically drawn by Russians.
The premise of Polandball is it represents Poland and its history, relations with other countries, and stereotypes, in which Poland is portrayed as a loser nation. Interactions between countryballs tend to be written in broken English and internet slang, reminiscent of the Lolcat meme, and by the end of the cartoon typically sees Polandball, which is drawn red on top of white (the reverse of the Polish flag), weeping.
Some Polandball comics arise from the fact that Poland doesn't have a space program, in contrast to the Russian space program. One of the most popular Polandball cartoons begins with the premise that Earth is going to be struck by a giant meteor, leading to all countries with space technology leaving Earth and going into orbit around the planet. At the end of the cartoon, Polandball, still on earth, is crying, and in broken English pronounces the canonical Polandball catchprase "Poland cannot into space". In this humourous way, Russians put a halt to all discussion with Poles on which country is most superior.
Polandball gained in popularity in the wake of the crash in Smolensk which killed Polish President Lech Kaczyński.
See also
References
- ^ Orliński, Wojciech (16 January 2010). "Wyniosłe lol zaborców, czyli Polandball" (in Polish). Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- Zapałowski, Radosław (15 February 2010). "Znowu lecą z nami w... kulki". Interia (in Polish). Cooltura. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
- "Polandball". Knowyourmeme. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
- ^ Kapiszewski, Kuba (13/2010). "Fenomem - Polska nie umieć w kosmos" (in Polish). Przegląd. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Cegielski, Tomek (12 April 2011). "MEMY. Legendy Internetu" (in Polish). Hiro.pl. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
- Nowosad, Jakub. "Mempleksy w Polskiej Polityce" (in Polish). Rzeszów University. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 24 March 2012.