The Meaning and History of Memes模因的含义和历史

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

在互联网文化中，模因无处不在，但如何向不了解的人解释某个模因的含义呢？

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.

模因并非始于互联网。有些语言学家认为，人类使用模因传达信息已有几百年之久。人们普遍认为，模因是进行文化交流的渠道，也是参与互联网潮流的契机。即便不经常上网，你也可能有意无意地参与了一场模因潮流。

Where does the word “meme” come from？

“模因”一词的来源

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.”

根据“纵横填字游戏信息网”的统计，自20世纪40年代《纽约时报》开设“填字游戏”版块以来，“模因”一词已在该游戏中出现60次。尽管很难确定第一个模因是什么， 但一般认为英国进化生物学家理查德·道金斯在其1976年出版的著作《自私的基因》中首次引入“模因”一词。斯沃斯莫尔学院的语言学教授柯比·康罗德称，在道金斯最初的概念中，“模因”类似最小的语音单位“音素”，或者最小的、有意义的构词单位“语素”。康罗德教授说：“模因是一个能自我复制的信息片段。若要向人们解释其概念，我会询问他们与朋友之间的‘圈内笑话’，或者在他们脑海中萦绕了20年之久的广告歌曲。那个信息片段，也就是我问的笑话或广告歌曲，会自我复制，因为我们人类喜欢分享和重复某些东西。我们重述笑话或者再次唱起广告歌曲，就是模因进行自我复制的例子。”1953年，《纽约时报》的“填字游戏”中首次出现“模因”一词，答题线索是“法语：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.”

康罗德教授说，人类使用模因进行交流的历史与使用其他任何符号系统的历史一样长。“模因网”的内容主管安德鲁·普赖斯对此表示赞同。他说，道金斯只是“给自古就存在的东西造了一个专用术语，模因就是深入公众意识的想法”。

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.”

法语里的même可译为“相同的”，而希腊语mimoúmai的意思是“模仿”。道金斯在《自私的基因》中写道：“我们需要为这个新的复制因子取一个名字，一个能够表达‘文化传播单位’或者‘模仿单位’概念的名词。”他想用一个听起来像“基因”的单音节词。道金斯提出：“这个名字既可以让人联想到‘记忆’，也可以认为与法语单词même有关。”

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.”

《韦氏新世界大学词典》对“模因”的定义是“一种被视为文化信息单位的概念、信仰或实践，能够在人与人之间传播，并受到类似于自然选择的制约”。

Shifting the meaning of memes

改变模因的含义

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.”

和英语中的许多单词一样，“模因”一词的语义也随着时间的推移发生了变化。乔治敦大学语言学系副教授兼本科生教务主任珍妮弗·内奇说，在互联网充分渗透的世界里，“模因及其含义由某个社会语境中的诸多用户共同构建”。她补充道：“这其实与其他交流或知识创造的过程并无二致。之所以在模因领域尤为显著，是因为人们明明白白地构建它们，然后将它们发给全世界评论。”

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.

备受喜爱的模因创造者“圣霍克斯”在社交平台“照片墙”上拥有300万粉丝，他将模因定义为一种重新得到应用的媒介，主要以幽默的方式传递文化、社会或政治表达。圣霍克斯说：“模因与时代潮流完全同步，能够充分体现人们的洞察力。”

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.