Parody Translation From The Perspective Of Memetics

Parody, as a rhetoric device, has received widespread attention in recent years. More and more scholars have undertaken their researches on parody. Till now, the great majority of parody researches have rested on descriptive and classific ones. Explorations involved in parody production and interpretation, especially parody translation, by contrast, is far from satisfactory.According to the inadequate studies in this field, the thesis intends to adopt the theory of Memetics to the study of parody and parody translation by taking the parodic cases from the surroundings as research objects. The author aims at concluding new translation approaches for parody. Based on the Darwinism, the Memetics is a new theory to expound the laws of cultural evolution in both diachronic and synchronic perspectives. Meme, the core term in of Memetics, is the basic unit of cultural transmission and a unit of imitation. Those languages, ideas, conducts and cultural conventions are memes so long as they are copied and transmitted by people. The aim of the study of language from the perspective of Memetics is to supply an explanation to some language phenomena from a new perspective.The thesis conducts a research on drawing new parody translation approaches from the perspective of Memetics. First, the author presents a systematic elucidation of parody translation within the framework of Memetics through analyzing the examples collected from manifold sectors of society such as netspeak, advertisements, news headlines, the designation of stores and commodities, etc. Second, the author summarizes three guiding principles (the grasp of essence, the appreciation of artistic quality, and the acceptability of the audience) and six translation approaches in hope of doing her part in the study of parody translation. By illustrating, this thesis proposes that such translation approaches as replacement by cultural equivalent, transference, homophony-discarding approach, image-discarding approach, explanation and zero translation should be effective in parody translation. Last but not least, in terms of the extensive application of parody, the author proposes her worry about the status quo, and appeals to everyone to create a more normalized language environment.Six chapters are included in this thesis. Being an introduction to the thesis, Chapter One summarizes the background of the present study, the significance of the current study and the layout of the thesis. Chapter Two lists definitions, classification, and manifested patterns of parody at home and abroad, and the previous studies of parody translation from other perspectives. In addition, application scopes and the status quo of parody researches are also explored. The third chapter is the theoretical framework and methodology which offers the evolutionary process of meme and the theory of Memetics. Chapter Four and Five assume the role to unfold the most important and detailed content in the thesis, which illustrates the parody translation in various sectors. Chapter Five covers three guiding principles and six approaches to parody translation through analyzing the examples collected from all walks of life. The last chapter is the conclusion of the thesis, consisting of the research findings, limitations and the author’s reflection through the study process.