模因与交际

Memes and Communication

模因论的核心概念是模因,模因概念的核心是模仿。模因主要通过模仿得到复制、传播和发展。模因现象几乎无处不在,任何想法、说法或做法都有可能成为模因。模因以框架的形式储存在大脑里,它们随时都有可能被激活。语言本身就是模因,它也寓于模因之中。语言模因可以有活模因和死模因之分,语言选择和使用的过程就是各种模因相互竞争的过程。在语言交际过程中,语言使用者有可能随时随地构建语言模因并传递语言模因所蕴涵的意义,而这一切在很大程度上是因为人的大脑具有模仿性。本文最后指出,从说话人的角度来看,交际能否获得成功,不仅要看听话人是否准确解读了说话人隐藏在逻辑形式背后的语用意图,更要看听话人的反应或行动是否符合说话人的利益诉求。

This article argues that meme is the core concept of meme theory, that imitation is at the heart of the ＇ meme＇ notion and that memes are replicated, transmitted and developed by means of imitation. Memetic phenomena are virtually pervasive, any idea, utterance and act may be potentially memetic and language is no exception. Memes, embedded in language, are stored in human mind in the form of frames and may be activated anytime. In language interaction, there may exist living and dead memes, and the process of language choice and language use is one in which various kinds of memes compete against each other. Besides, language users seem, thanks to the imitative nature of human mind, able to construct new language memes and transmit the meanings hidden behind them. It is argued at the end that, communicative success, seen from the perspective of the speaker, depends not only upon whether the hearer correctly recognizes the pragmatic intention hidden behind the logical form, but also upon whether the hearer＇s subsequent response or action satisfies the interest of the speaker.