万万没想到，meme竟然不叫“表情包”...

译介 2023-06-20

收录于合集 #双语精选 46个

提到meme，很多人第一个想到的就是表情包。事实上，meme除了可以指表情包，它的定义还要更广。它指的是人与人之间传播的思想、行为或者风格，可译为“迷因”或“模因”。

随着网络的飞速发展，meme早已不只是一种轻娱乐方式。今天就跟随文章一起了解meme的来源以及它的惊人力量吧！

The surprising power of internet memes

网络迷因的惊人力量

On the surface, internet memes are a ubiquitous source of light entertainment – a way for people to express themselves through cleverly remixed templates of text, images and videos.

表面上，网络迷因是一种很普遍的轻娱乐来源——一种人们通过文字、图片及视频的巧妙结合来表达自我的方式。

But memes also have a serious side, according to researchers looking at modern forms of communication. They are a language in themselves, with a capacity to transcend cultures and construct collective identities between people. These sharable visual jokes can also be powerful tools for self-expression, connection, and social influence.

但根据对现代交流形式的相关研究，迷因也有更深层次的一面。即它们本身也是一种语言，能跨越文化，在人与人之间构建集体认同感，这些可分享的可视化笑话可以成为表达自我、建立联系并产生社会影响的强大工具。

According to social media site Instagram, at least one million posts mentioning "meme" were shared every day in 2020. But what is it that makes the internet meme so popular and why is it such an effective way of conveying ideas?

2020年，在社交网站Instagram上，每天至少有100万个包含有“迷因”的帖子被转发分享。那么，究竟是什么让网络迷因如此流行，它又为何成为这样一种传达想法的有效方式呢？

Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist, coined the term "meme" in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, likening discrete bits of human culture that propagate between people to genes. Dawkins shortened the ancient Greek word "mimeme" – with an apology to his classicist colleagues – to meme, to rhyme with "cream". He suggested that memes were melodies, ideas, catchphrases or bits of information that leap from brain to brain through imitation, expediting their transmission.

进化论生物学家理查德·道金斯（Richard Dawkins）在其1976年出版的《自私的基因》一书中创造了“meme（迷因）”一词，他把在人与人之间传播的人类文化零散片段比作基因。他将古希腊语中的“mimeme”缩写为meme（同时向其古典学者同事道歉），与 “cream”一词押韵。他认为，迷因是某些旋律、想法、口号或信息的片段，通过模仿从一个大脑跃入另一个大脑中，从而加速了传播。

With the arrival of the internet, however, memes have become a more tangible phenomenon that can be observed as they grow, spread and mutate. "In a way, it's like internet users paving the way for academics to look at memes more scientifically," says Limor Shifman, a professor of communication at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Researchers at Facebook showed in a study in 2014 just how widely memes posted on the social media site can spread and evolve. In one example, they found 121,605 different variants of one particular meme posted across 1.14 million status updates.

然而，随着互联网的到来，迷因成为了一种更具体的现象，人们可以观察到它们的产生、传播和变化。耶路撒冷希伯来大学传播学教授利莫尔·希夫曼（Limor Shifman）说：“在某种程度上，这像是网民为学术界铺平了道路，让他们更科学地看待迷因。”2014年，一项针对脸书的研究显示了在社交网站上，迷因可以传播及演变的范围有多广，比如，在一个案例中，他们发现，在114万条更新状态中，有121605条是对某个特定迷因的改编帖。

Shifman's definition of memes, now widely used in the field, describes them as "a group of texts with shared characteristics, with a shared core of content, form, and stance". Broadly, "content" refers to ideas and ideologies, while "form" to our sensory experiences such as audio or visual, and "stance" to the tone or style, structures for participation, and communicative functions of the meme.

希夫曼对“迷因”的定义，现在在传播领域内被广泛运用，他将迷因形容为是“一组具有共同特征，在内容、形式及态度上具有共同核心的文本”，大体上说，“内容”指的是想法及意识形态，“形式”指的是我们的感官体验，如听觉和视觉，“态度”则是指某种腔调或风格、参与结构及迷因的交流功能。

Fundamentally, no meme is an island. "A text that just spreads well, and a lot of people see it, is not a meme," says Shifman. "It's viral. But if a lot of people create their own versions then it becomes a group of texts and then it's a meme."

从根本上说，没有一个迷因会是一座孤岛。希夫曼说：“如果一个文本只是传播得很广，很多人看到它，这并不算是一个迷因，一个迷因应是如病毒一般广泛快速传播，当一个文字内容传播开来，且很多人创造出自己的版本，然后成为一个文本群时，那这才算是迷因”。

But for an idea to become a meme, it needs to be shared. Most successful internet memes – in that they spread wide and far – share a few key attributes.

但是，一个想法要想成为迷因，它就必然要被分享，许多成功的网络迷因——传播得既广泛又深远的，都具备几个关键特征。

"Usually the most viral, most loved memes are memes that are about things that are very recent in public memory," says Galip. But often they are also "something that was important to many people", she says. "Viral memes usually appeal to the most common denominator. So you don't have to necessarily be embedded in internet subculture to understand what it's saying. And the final thing I think is, it's the most basic thing but it's very hard to replicate, is that it should be fun to look at, and fun to share."

“传播得最快、最广又最受喜爱的迷因，通常和在公众记忆中非常新的事物有关，”盖利普（Galip）说。但同时，它们往往也是“对许多人很重要的事情”。这些广泛传播的迷因通常吸引的是最普遍的大众，所以你无需深入互联网亚文化，就可以理解它说的是什么，最后一点我认为，迷因最基本也很难被复制的特点是，它要看起来很有趣，同时分享起来也很有趣。

Memes also have an uncanny way of capturing a feeling, experience, or state of mind which resonates with people, depending on the "niche-ness" of the meme. One small recent study found that people with depression rated depression-related memes as more humorous, relatable and shareable. The researchers suggest memes elegantly portray the experience of depression which some may find hard to vocalise. And because they are highly relatable among people with depression, they could offer the perception of social support and emotional connection.

迷因还可以神奇地捕捉到某种感觉、经历或心态，从而与人们产生共鸣，这取决于迷因的“小众性”。近日有一个小研究发现，抑郁症患者更会觉得那些跟抑郁相关的迷因幽默、更有亲和力且更愿意分享。研究人员认为，迷因可以恰当地描述出一些平时可能很难表达出来的抑郁体验，并且，由于它们与这些抑郁症患者高度相关，还能让他们感受到来自社会的支持与情感联系。

今日词汇

meme n. 网络迷因

remix v. 混合录音

collective identities 集体认同感

viral adj. （通过网络在个体之间迅速）病毒式的（传播）

denominator /dɪˈnɒm.ɪ.neɪ.tər/ n. 分母，共同特征

uncanny adj. 奇怪的；神秘的；难以（或无法）解释的

翻译讨论

Memes also have an uncanny way of capturing a feeling, experience, or state of mind which resonates with people, depending on the "niche-ness" of the meme.

这句的niche-ness有些难理解。

它的含义是The quality of being highly specialized, or targeting a very small audience or market.

“针对特定的小群体”，译文将它翻译成“小众性”。

你觉得怎么翻译更好呢？

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译者：应用型笔译班学员Aven

审校：Jennifer

英文来源：BBC

*对应译文由译介翻译团队完成，仅供参考，不当之处欢迎大家在评论区讨论！转载请注明来源！

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