The Meaning and History of Memes模因的含義和歷史

Internet culture is saturated with memes， but how would you explain a meme to someone who doesn’t get it？

在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)文化中，模因無(wú)處不在，但如何向不了解的人解釋某個(gè)模因的含義呢？

Memes didn’t start with the internet. Some linguists argue that humans have used memes to communicate for centuries. Memes are widely known as conduits for cultural conversations and an opportunity to participate in internet trends. Even if you’re not extremely online， you’ve probably participated in a meme trend， knowingly or not.

模因并非始于互聯(lián)網(wǎng)。有些語(yǔ)言學(xué)家認(rèn)為，人類使用模因傳達(dá)信息已有幾百年之久。人們普遍認(rèn)為，模因是進(jìn)行文化交流的渠道，也是參與互聯(lián)網(wǎng)潮流的契機(jī)。即便不經(jīng)常上網(wǎng)，你也可能有意無(wú)意地參與了一場(chǎng)模因潮流。

Where does the word “meme” come from？

“模因”一詞的來(lái)源

The word “meme” has been used in the New York Times Crossword 60 times since the puzzle’s inception in the 1940s， according to XWordInfo. Although it’s difficult to identify the first meme ever， the British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins is credited with introducing the term in his 1976 book， “The Selfish Gene.” In Mr. Dawkins’s original conception， a “meme” was analogous to a “phoneme，” the smallest unit of sound in speech， or a “morpheme，” the smallest meaningful subunit of a word， Kirby Conrod， a professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College， said. “I would explain the concept of a meme—a self-replicating chunk of information—by asking someone about an inside joke they had with friends or an advertising jingle1 that’s been stuck in their head for 20 years，” Professor Conrod said. “That chunk of information， the joke or the jingle， self-replicates because we humans like to share and repeat stuff. When we repeat the joke， or sing the jingle， that’s an instance of the meme reproducing itself.” The word “meme” first appeared in the New York Times Crossword in 1953 with the clue “Same： French.”

根據(jù)“縱橫填字游戲信息網(wǎng)”的統(tǒng)計(jì)，自20世紀(jì)40年代《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》開(kāi)設(shè)“填字游戲”版塊以來(lái)，“模因”一詞已在該游戲中出現(xiàn)60次。盡管很難確定第一個(gè)模因是什么， 但一般認(rèn)為英國(guó)進(jìn)化生物學(xué)家理查德·道金斯在其1976年出版的著作《自私的基因》中首次引入“模因”一詞。斯沃斯莫爾學(xué)院的語(yǔ)言學(xué)教授柯比·康羅德稱，在道金斯最初的概念中，“模因”類似最小的語(yǔ)音單位“音素”，或者最小的、有意義的構(gòu)詞單位“語(yǔ)素”。康羅德教授說(shuō)：“模因是一個(gè)能自我復(fù)制的信息片段。若要向人們解釋其概念，我會(huì)詢問(wèn)他們與朋友之間的‘圈內(nèi)笑話’，或者在他們腦海中縈繞了20年之久的廣告歌曲。那個(gè)信息片段，也就是我問(wèn)的笑話或廣告歌曲，會(huì)自我復(fù)制，因?yàn)槲覀內(nèi)祟愊矚g分享和重復(fù)某些東西。我們重述笑話或者再次唱起廣告歌曲，就是模因進(jìn)行自我復(fù)制的例子。”1953年，《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》的“填字游戲”中首次出現(xiàn)“模因”一詞，答題線索是“法語(yǔ)：相同的”。

Humans have used memes to communicate for as long as they have used any symbolic system， Professor Conrod said. Andrew Price， the head of content at Memes.com， agreed. Mr. Dawkins merely “coined the term for something that’s existed literally forever，” he said. “A meme is just an idea that rips through2 the public consciousness.”

康羅德教授說(shuō)，人類使用模因進(jìn)行交流的歷史與使用其他任何符號(hào)系統(tǒng)的歷史一樣長(zhǎng)。“模因網(wǎng)”的內(nèi)容主管安德魯·普賴斯對(duì)此表示贊同。他說(shuō)，道金斯只是“給自古就存在的東西造了一個(gè)專用術(shù)語(yǔ)，模因就是深入公眾意識(shí)的想法”。

In French， the word “même” translates to “same” and the Greek word “mimoúmai” means “to imitate.” In his book， Dawkins said， “We need a name for the new replicator3， a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission， or a unit of imitation.” He wanted to use a monosyllable that sounded like “gene.” Dawkins said， “It could alternatively be thought of as being related to ‘memory，’ or to the French word même.”

法語(yǔ)里的même可譯為“相同的”，而希臘語(yǔ)mimoúmai的意思是“模仿”。道金斯在《自私的基因》中寫(xiě)道：“我們需要為這個(gè)新的復(fù)制因子取一個(gè)名字，一個(gè)能夠表達(dá)‘文化傳播單位’或者‘模仿單位’概念的名詞。”他想用一個(gè)聽(tīng)起來(lái)像“基因”的單音節(jié)詞。道金斯提出：“這個(gè)名字既可以讓人聯(lián)想到‘記憶’，也可以認(rèn)為與法語(yǔ)單詞même有關(guān)。”

Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines a meme as “a concept， belief， or practice conceived as a unit of cultural information that may be passed on from person to person， subject to influences in a way analogous to natural selection.”

《韋氏新世界大學(xué)詞典》對(duì)“模因”的定義是“一種被視為文化信息單位的概念、信仰或?qū)嵺`，能夠在人與人之間傳播，并受到類似于自然選擇的制約”。

Shifting the meaning of memes

改變模因的含義

Like many words in the English language， the word “meme” has undergone a semantic shift over time. In an internet-saturated world， “memes and their meanings are co-constructed by multiple users in a social context4，” Jennifer Nycz， an associate professor and director of undergraduate studies at Georgetown University’s Department of Linguistics， said. “This is really no different from any other process of communication or knowledge creation5，” she added. “It’s just especially salient in the case of memes because people explicitly construct them and then post them to the world for commentary.”

和英語(yǔ)中的許多單詞一樣，“模因”一詞的語(yǔ)義也隨著時(shí)間的推移發(fā)生了變化。喬治敦大學(xué)語(yǔ)言學(xué)系副教授兼本科生教務(wù)主任珍妮弗·內(nèi)奇說(shuō)，在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)充分滲透的世界里，“模因及其含義由某個(gè)社會(huì)語(yǔ)境中的諸多用戶共同構(gòu)建”。她補(bǔ)充道：“這其實(shí)與其他交流或知識(shí)創(chuàng)造的過(guò)程并無(wú)二致。之所以在模因領(lǐng)域尤為顯著，是因?yàn)槿藗兠髅靼装椎貥?gòu)建它們，然后將它們發(fā)給全世界評(píng)論。”

The popular meme creator Saint Hoax6， who has three million Instagram followers， defines a meme as a piece of media that is repurposed to deliver a cultural， social or political expression， mainly through humor. “It has the ability to capture insight in a way that is in complete alignment with the zeitgeist，” Saint Hoax said.

備受喜愛(ài)的模因創(chuàng)造者“圣霍克斯”在社交平臺(tái)“照片墻”上擁有300萬(wàn)粉絲，他將模因定義為一種重新得到應(yīng)用的媒介，主要以幽默的方式傳遞文化、社會(huì)或政治表達(dá)。圣霍克斯說(shuō)：“模因與時(shí)代潮流完全同步，能夠充分體現(xiàn)人們的洞察力。”

Memes can also accelerate the popularity of certain forms of entertainment. “Memes now have the ability to help new TV shows or even songs gain popularity by becoming the basis of a viral trend，” said Samantha Sage， co-founder and chief creative officer of Betches， a media company geared toward millennial women.

模因也能加速提升某些娛樂(lè)形式的熱度。薩曼莎·塞奇是面向千禧一代女性的傳媒公司“浪女”的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人兼首席創(chuàng)意官。她指出：“如今，模因能夠?yàn)槟撤N病毒式傳播的趨勢(shì)奠定基礎(chǔ)，從而幫助新開(kāi)播的電視節(jié)目甚至新推出的歌曲流行起來(lái)。”

Ingredients for a good meme

優(yōu)質(zhì)模因的成分

Noteworthy pop culture events are breeding grounds for meme creation. Instagram hired Saint Hoax to cover the Met Gala7 as its first-ever meme correspondent， knowing that interesting， culturally relevant content would come from the event and spread on social platforms. “Memes are basically editor-ial cartoons for the internet age，” Saint Hoax said. “The power of a meme lies in its transmissibility and unique knack for being cross-cultural.” And memes have the uncanny ability to capture a moment while distracting people from reality. They encapsulate the era we are living in while also reminding us that it’s not all that serious， Lola Tash， one of the founders of the meme account My Therapist Says， said.

值得關(guān)注的流行文化事件是創(chuàng)造模因的溫床。“照片墻”曾聘請(qǐng)圣霍克斯擔(dān)任平臺(tái)的第一位模因記者，報(bào)道紐約大都會(huì)藝術(shù)博物館慈善晚會(huì)，因?yàn)樵撈脚_(tái)知道，與文化相關(guān)的有趣內(nèi)容將從這場(chǎng)晚會(huì)中產(chǎn)生并在社交平臺(tái)上廣為傳播。“模因無(wú)異于網(wǎng)絡(luò)時(shí)代的社論漫畫(huà)。”圣霍克斯坦言，“模因的魔力在于它的可傳播性以及獨(dú)特的跨文化本領(lǐng)。”模因還具有一種神奇的能力，能夠在捕捉瞬間的同時(shí)分散人們對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)的注意力。模因賬號(hào)“如我治療師所說(shuō)”的創(chuàng)建人之一洛拉·塔什表示，模因概括了我們生活的時(shí)代，同時(shí)提醒我們生活沒(méi)有那么嚴(yán)肅。

Memes are shareable by nature. “In a world where you are scrolling through news feeds for hours a day， the meme format catches your eye， and most of them can be read and understood within seconds，” said Samir Mezrahi， the deputy director of social media at BuzzFeed， who also runs Kale Salad， a meme account with nearly four million followers.

模因天生具有共享特質(zhì)。“嗡嗡喂”網(wǎng)站的社交媒體副總監(jiān)薩米爾·梅茲拉希說(shuō)：“在一個(gè)你每天都要花幾個(gè)小時(shí)瀏覽新聞推送的世界里，模因這種形式能夠吸引你的眼球，而且大部分模因的內(nèi)容都可以在幾秒鐘之內(nèi)看懂。”梅茲拉希還經(jīng)營(yíng)著模因賬號(hào)“羽衣甘藍(lán)沙拉”，擁有近400萬(wàn)粉絲。

Creating and sharing memes facilitates a sense of community online while maintaining a feeling of exclusivity. “Memes bring people together through humor and can act as a catalyst for creating social or political commentary，” said Kit Chilvers， the chief executive and founder of Pubity Group， a collection of social media accounts that has more than 80 million total followers. “Often， memes can be quite exclusive， as only people who are familiar with the origin of the meme will understand it，” Chilvers added.

創(chuàng)造和分享模因既有助于形成對(duì)在線社區(qū)的歸屬感，又能保持一種專屬感。“普比蒂”集團(tuán)是一眾社交媒體賬號(hào)的集合，共計(jì)擁有超過(guò)8000萬(wàn)粉絲。集團(tuán)創(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行官基特·奇爾弗斯說(shuō)：“模因用幽默將人們聚集在一起，可以作為引發(fā)社會(huì)輿論和政治評(píng)論的催化劑。”他補(bǔ)充道：“模因通常具有較強(qiáng)的專屬性，因?yàn)橹挥惺煜ぴ撃Ｒ蚱鹪吹娜瞬拍芾斫馑暮x。”

The future of memes

模因的未來(lái)

Meme culture is constantly evolving， and the future of memes is unpredictable， but some of the internet’s most popular meme creators have thoughts on where it might be headed. “I think memes will become NFTs （nonfungible tokens）8 and we will see creators selling their best work as digital assets，” Haley Sacks， founder of the Instagram account @mrsdowjones， said. “I would buy a meme NFT，” she added. Mr. Price， of Memes.com， predicted that in five years—or sooner—every cultural moment9 and every news story will have an accompanying meme， and that meme will be a large part of the mainstream conversation about that event. “Memes on the internet took what is already naturally occurring in the way that we communicate and supercharged it by making it global and simple，” he said.

模因文化在不斷演變，所以模因的未來(lái)不可預(yù)測(cè)，但互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上一些最受人喜愛(ài)的模因創(chuàng)造者對(duì)模因的發(fā)展方向有自己的看法。“照片墻”賬號(hào)“道瓊斯太太”的創(chuàng)建人黑莉·薩克斯說(shuō)：“我認(rèn)為模因會(huì)成為非同質(zhì)化代幣，我們將看到模因創(chuàng)造者將他們最好的作品以數(shù)字資產(chǎn)的形式出售。”她補(bǔ)充道：“我會(huì)購(gòu)買(mǎi)一個(gè)模因的非同質(zhì)化代幣。”據(jù)“模因網(wǎng)”的普賴斯預(yù)測(cè)，在五年或者更短的時(shí)間內(nèi)，每個(gè)文化時(shí)刻、每個(gè)新聞故事都會(huì)有一個(gè)配套的模因，而這個(gè)模因?qū)⒊蔀橛嘘P(guān)該事件的主流對(duì)話的重要組成部分。他表示：“互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上的模因利用了本就存在于我們往來(lái)交流中的元素，通過(guò)將其簡(jiǎn)化并在全球推廣，大大增強(qiáng)其影響力。”

What can I say？ The girls that get it， get it and the girls that don’t， don’t.10

我能說(shuō)什么呢？懂的都懂，不懂的就不懂。

［譯者單位：中國(guó)石油大學(xué)（北京）］

1 jingle（收音機(jī)或電視廣告中易記的）短歌，短曲。 2 rip through（快速而猛烈地）鉆入，穿透。

3 replicator 復(fù)制因子，在遺傳學(xué)中指有一個(gè)復(fù)制起始點(diǎn)并能促進(jìn)DNA分子復(fù)制的DNA序列。 4社會(huì)語(yǔ)境指影響語(yǔ)言發(fā)生變異的社會(huì)環(huán)境，如社會(huì)的階層結(jié)構(gòu)；也指言語(yǔ)交際活動(dòng)所處的社會(huì)環(huán)境，包括情景和社會(huì)文化背景。

5知識(shí)創(chuàng)造指人類個(gè)體以自己在社會(huì)實(shí)踐中獲得的信息資源和前人創(chuàng)造的知識(shí)為原料，以大腦為加工和生產(chǎn)中心，運(yùn)用歸納、綜合、抽象和演繹等方法，產(chǎn)生新知識(shí)的過(guò)程。 6“圣霍克斯”是敘利亞一位藝術(shù)家的化名，字面意思為“神圣騙局”。圣霍克斯的作品經(jīng)常融入流行文化元素，顛覆標(biāo)志性符號(hào)和人物，傳達(dá)強(qiáng)有力的信息并挑戰(zhàn)社會(huì)規(guī)范。

7 = Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit Gala 紐約大都會(huì)藝術(shù)博物館慈善晚會(huì)，時(shí)尚界最隆重的晚會(huì)，有“時(shí)尚界‘超級(jí)碗’”之稱。

8非同質(zhì)化代幣是一種附著在資產(chǎn)上的獨(dú)特代幣。“非同質(zhì)化”意味著每個(gè)代幣都是一件具有獨(dú)特價(jià)值的獨(dú)特物品，因此非同質(zhì)化代幣格外值錢(qián)。創(chuàng)作者可以將任何東西制作成非同質(zhì)化代幣，包括藝術(shù)品、動(dòng)圖、視頻剪輯、表情包、音樂(lè)和數(shù)字交易卡。 9文化時(shí)刻指某種文化現(xiàn)象或事件在社會(huì)上引起廣泛關(guān)注和討論，進(jìn)而成為一種文化現(xiàn)象的特定時(shí)刻。

10曾經(jīng)風(fēng)靡于TikTok的模因，最初出自該平臺(tái)用戶邁克拉·詹寧斯（Michaela Jen-nings）為回應(yīng)某人對(duì)她發(fā)型的嘲笑而錄制的短視頻。