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，模因無處不在，但如何向不了解的人解釋某個模因的含義呢？

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)。有些語言學家認為，人類使用模因傳達信息已有幾百年之久。人們普遍認為，模因是進行文化交流的渠道，也是參與互聯(lián)網(wǎng)潮流的契機。即便不經(jīng)常上網(wǎng)，你也可能有意無意地參與了一場模因潮流。

Where does the word “meme” come from？

“模因”一詞的來源

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，自20世紀40年代《紐約時報》開設“填字游戲”版塊以來，“模因”一詞已在該游戲中出現(xiàn)60次。盡管很難確定第一個模因是什么， 但一般認為英國進化生物學家理查德·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。斯沃斯莫爾學院的語言學教授柯比·康羅德稱，在道金斯最初的概念中，“模因”類似最小的語音單位“音素”，或者最小的、有意義的構詞單位“語素”?？盗_德教授說：“模因是一個能自我復制的信息片段。若要向人們解釋其概念，我會詢問他們與朋友之間的‘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。那個信息片段，也就是我問的笑話或廣告歌曲，會自我復制，因為我們?nèi)祟愊矚g分享和重復某些東西。我們重述笑話或者再次唱起廣告歌曲，就是模因進行自我復制的例子。”1953年，《紐約時報》的“填字游戲”中首次出現(xiàn)“模因”一詞，答題線索是“法語：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，人類使用模因進行交流的歷史與使用其他任何符號系統(tǒng)的歷史一樣長?！澳Ｒ蚓W(wǎng)”的內(nèi)容主管安德魯·普賴斯對此表示贊同。他說，道金斯只是“給自古就存在的東西造了一個專用術語，模因就是深入公眾意識的想法”。

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.”

法語里的même可譯為“相同的”，而希臘語mimoúmai的意思是“模仿”。道金斯在《自私的基因》中寫道：“我們需要為這個新的復制因子取一個名字，一個能夠表達‘文化傳播單位’或者‘模仿單位’概念的名詞?！彼胗靡粋€聽起來像“基因”的單音節(jié)詞。道金斯提出：“這個名字既可以讓人聯(lián)想到‘記憶’，也可以認為與法語單詞même有關?！?/p>

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.”

《韋氏新世界大學詞典》對“模因”的定義是“一種被視為文化信息單位的概念、信仰或實踐，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.”

和英語中的許多單詞一樣，“模因”一詞的語義也隨著時間的推移發(fā)生了變化。喬治敦大學語言學系副教授兼本科生教務主任珍妮弗·內(nèi)奇說，在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)充分滲透的世界里，“模因及其含義由某個社會語境中的諸多用戶共同構建”。她補充道：“這其實與其他交流或知識創(chuàng)造的過程并無二致。之所以在模因領域尤為顯著，是因為人們明明白白地構建它們，然后將它們發(fā)給全世界評論?！?/p>

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.

備受喜愛的模因創(chuàng)造者“圣霍克斯”在社交平臺“照片墻”上擁有300萬粉絲，他將模因定義為一種重新得到應用的媒介，主要以幽默的方式傳遞文化、社會或政治表達。圣霍克斯說：“模因與時代潮流完全同步，能夠充分體現(xiàn)人們的洞察力?！?/p>

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，模因能夠為某種病毒式傳播的趨勢奠定基礎，從而幫助新開播的電視節(jié)目甚至新推出的歌曲流行起來?！?/p>

Ingredients for a good meme

優(yōu)質模因的成分

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.

值得關注的流行文化事件是創(chuàng)造模因的溫床。“照片墻”曾聘請圣霍克斯擔任平臺的第一位模因記者，報道紐約大都會藝術博物館慈善晚會，因為該平臺知道，與文化相關的有趣內(nèi)容將從這場晚會中產(chǎn)生并在社交平臺上廣為傳播?！澳Ｒ驘o異于網(wǎng)絡時代的社論漫畫?！笔セ艨怂固寡?，“模因的魔力在于它的可傳播性以及獨特的跨文化本領?！蹦Ｒ蜻€具有一種神奇的能力，能夠在捕捉瞬間的同時分散人們對現(xiàn)實的注意力。模因賬號“如我治療師所說”的創(chuàng)建人之一洛拉·塔什表示，模因概括了我們生活的時代，同時提醒我們生活沒有那么嚴肅。

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?！拔宋宋埂本W(wǎng)站的社交媒體副總監(jiān)薩米爾·梅茲拉希說：“在一個你每天都要花幾個小時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?！泵菲澙＿€經(jīng)營著模因賬號“羽衣甘藍沙拉”，擁有近400萬粉絲。

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在線社區(qū)的歸屬感，又能保持一種專屬感?！捌毡鹊佟奔瘓F是一眾社交媒體賬號的集合，共計擁有超過8000萬粉絲。集團創(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行官基特·奇爾弗斯說：“模因用幽默將人們聚集在一起，可以作為引發(fā)社會輿論和政治評論的催化劑?！彼a充道：“模因通常具有較強的專屬性，因為只有熟悉該模因起源的人才能理解它的含義?！?/p>

The future of memes

模因的未來

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，所以模因的未來不可預測，但互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上一些最受人喜愛的模因創(chuàng)造者對模因的發(fā)展方向有自己的看法。“照片墻”賬號“道瓊斯太太”的創(chuàng)建人黑莉·薩克斯說：“我認為模因會成為非同質化代幣，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?！彼a充道：“我會購買一個模因的非同質化代幣?！睋?jù)“模因網(wǎng)”的普賴斯預測，在五年或者更短的時間內(nèi)，每個文化時刻、每個新聞故事都會有一個配套的模因，而這個模因將成為有關該事件的主流對話的重要組成部分。他表示：“互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上的模因利用了本就存在于我們往來交流中的元素，通過將其簡化并在全球推廣，大大增強其影響力?！?/p>

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

我能說什么呢？懂的都懂，不懂的就不懂。

［譯者單位：中國石油大學（北京）］

1 jingle（收音機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 復制因子，在遺傳學中指有一個復制起始點并能促進DNA分子復制的DNA序列。 4社會語境指影響語言發(fā)生變異的社會環(huán)境，如社會的階層結構；也指言語交際活動所處的社會環(huán)境，包括情景和社會文化背景。

5知識創(chuàng)造指人類個體以自己在社會實踐中獲得的信息資源和前人創(chuàng)造的知識為原料，以大腦為加工和生產(chǎn)中心，運用歸納、綜合、抽象和演繹等方法，產(chǎn)生新知識的過程。 6“圣霍克斯”是敘利亞一位藝術家的化名，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，顛覆標志性符號和人物，傳達強有力的信息并挑戰(zhàn)社會規(guī)范。

7 = Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit Gala 紐約大都會藝術博物館慈善晚會，時尚界最隆重的晚會，有“時尚界‘超級碗’”之稱。

8非同質化代幣是一種附著在資產(chǎn)上的獨特代幣?！胺峭|化”意味著每個代幣都是一件具有獨特價值的獨特物品，因此非同質化代幣格外值錢。創(chuàng)作者可以將任何東西制作成非同質化代幣，包括藝術品、動圖、視頻剪輯、表情包、音樂和數(shù)字交易卡。 9文化時刻指某種文化現(xiàn)象或事件在社會上引起廣泛關注和討論，進而成為一種文化現(xiàn)象的特定時刻。

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