Dariia Yaremchuk
Khmelnytskyi National University
Scientific supervisor: D.E. Dmytroshkin
TRANSLATION OF MEMES: LEXICAL, STYLISTIC AND SYNTACTIC ASPECTS
Translation of memes has become increasingly important in today’s globalized world, where memes are widely shared and have the potential to cross cultural and linguistic barriers. However, translating memes is not a straightforward process as memes often contain cultural references, wordplay, and unconventional language use that can be difficult to adapt to other languages and preserve their humorous effect at the same time.
Before delving into the topic of translating memes, it’s important to understand what a “meme” is.A meme is an information unit that spreads through copying and sharing, typically in the form of images, videos, or texts that convey a cultural idea, symbol, or behaviour [1].
There are many types of memes, but currently the most common are graphic memes and video memes.Graphic meme is a photo with a block of text that creates a humorous effect [2, с.2]. The main tasks in the translation of graphic memes are:
- To preserve the format and size of a meme.
- To convey the same idea of a meme.
- To preserve the humorous effect and expressiveness.
When discussing the lexical aspects of memes, it becomes evident that a significant amount of slang, colloquial language and vulgarisms is used. Also, memes exhibit a rich variety of lexical features, including many shortenings, blendings, and neologisms.As an example, let us take a Ukrainian meme that was popular in 2022:На похоронах Жиріновського пуйло спіймав букет.This sentence contains an interesting word that conveys a humorous and expressive context, but a literal translation into English is not possible. Consequently, it may be necessary to create an equivalent word or phrase that produces a similar effect in the target language: Pudick has caught a bouquet at Zhirinovsky`s funeral.As a result, the lexical and stylistic features have been effectively conveyed through translation.
Video memeis a combination of a short video and funny text [2, с.3]. The main tasks in the translation of video memes are:
- To preserve the idea of the meme.
- To convey expressiveness.
- To make translation simultaneous by subtitles or voice-overs.
The lexical and stylistic features of video memes are similar to those of graphic ones. However, it is crucial to consider the syntactic features when translating them. It is essential to maintain sentence length and word order as closely as possible between the original and translated version to ensure that the humorous effect is preserved. In order to ensure that the humorous effect of video memes is retained in the translation, translators may need to make use of lexical and syntactic deviations.It is also important to take into account the linguistic peculiarities of the individuals featured in the video meme, including their pronunciation and lexicon.
For example, let us take a popular Ukrainian video meme that appeared on the internet a few years ago. Transcript: Я не з такої сім’ї, як другі. Я із бОгатої. Дві хати маємо… ванна… ну таке ж оно.This particular example features a dialect that is characterized by unique word pronunciation and sentence structure, which contributes to the humorous effect of the meme. So, in the translation, it is necessary to convey these distinctive linguistic features in order to preserve the humour of the meme: I`m not from an ordinary family. My family is REECH. We have two houses with a bathroom there… you knou. In the translation, the sentence structure was slightly changed for better understanding and clarity in the target language. However, the peculiarities of pronunciation were interpreted with the help of deviation in the spelling of words. Also, the emphasis on the word was conveyed by capitalizing the word, which is a very important aspect for translators working with subtitles.
To sum up, the translation of memes is becoming increasingly important in today’s digital world, as memes are rapidly shared across the internet and require global comprehension. When translating memes, it is crucial to consider factors such as sentence length, language level, and emotional tone in order to effectively convey the intended message and preserve the humour and effect of the original meme.
СПИСОК ДЖЕРЕЛ
- Adam Lonnberg, Pengcheng Xiao, Kathryn Wolfinger. The growth, spread, and mutation of internet phenomena: A study of memes. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590037420300029
- Дзюбіна О. І. Класифікація, структура та функціонування інтернетмемів в соціальних мережах Twitter та Facebook. Молодий вчений. 2016. №2 (29). С. 375 –379.