2012届_毕业论文模板.doc

毕 业 论 文（2012届） 英语广告的模因分析 学生姓名 张三四 学 号 0301060112 系 别 外语系 专业班级 英语080？班 指导教师 王五一 完成日期 2012年5月9日 AN ANALYSIS OF THE MEMES IN ENGLISH ADVERTISEMENTByJiang BinbinA thesisSubmitted to the Foreign Languages DepartmentYuanpei CollegeShaoxing UniversityIn partial fulfillment of the requirementsFor the degree of Bachelor of ArtsSupervised byRen RongMay 9, 2012ContentsAbstract(1)1. Introduction(2)2. Literature Review (2) 2.1 Previous Studies on Advertising Language at Home and Abroad (2)2.2 Previous Studies on Memetics at Home and Abroad (3)2.3 Memetic Research in Advertising (3)2.3.1 Geoff Aylings Research (3)2.3.2 Jay Conrad Levinsons Research (5)2.3.3 Paul Marsdens Research (5)3. Memetics (6) 3.1 Meme and Memetics (6)3.2 Process of Meme Replication (7)4. An Analysis of the Memes in English Advertisement (7)4.1 Rhetorical Devices as Memes in English Advertising (8) 4.1.1 Phonetic Rhetorical Devices as Memes in English Advertising (8)4.1.2 Lexical Rhetorical Devices as Memes in English Advertising (9)4.1.3 Syntactic Rhetoric Devices as Memes in English Advertising s(11)4.2 Cognitive Memetics in English Advertising s(12)4.2.1 Working Memory s(12)4.2.2 The Audiences Way of Understanding s(12)4.2.3 Emotional Factors s(13)5. Conclusion s(13)References s(15)An Analysis of the Memes in English AdvertisementAbstract: In the context of rapid economic developing, advertising, as sales stimulus, plays a critical role in delivering commercial information. And memes in advertising make the massage involved transmitted smoothly and efficiently. Therefore, to analyze the advertising language from a memetics view by adopting a qualitative and descriptive-explanatory method is of great importance. The four processes of memes replication are assimilation, retention, expression, and transmission, which is the basis of applying phonetic rhetorical devices, lexical rhetorical devices, and syntactic rhetorical devices as successful memes in English advertising. At the same time, cognitive memetics such as working memory, audiences way of understanding, and emotional factors also affect the efficiency of information conveying. Key words: advertising; meme replication; rhetorical device; cognitive memetics英语广告的模因分析摘要：在经济快速发展的语境下，作为促销方式的广告在商品信息的传递中起着非常重要的作用。广告中的模因可使相关的信息有效传递。因此，利用定性的描述性分析法从模因论的视角对广告语言进行分析具有重要意义。模因复制的四个过程为同化，保留，表达，传播，该过程是语言修辞方法，词汇修辞方法以及句法修辞方法在英语广告中作为有效模因的应用基础。同时，储存记忆，观众的理解方式与情感因素作为认知模因，同样影响信息的有效传递。关键词: 广告；模因复制；修辞方法；认知模因13An Analysis of the Memes in English Advertisement1. IntroductionUnder the development of economy and the trend of globalization, advertising plays a crucial role in the commercial chain. Targeted products or services can hardly be accepted without well informing the public. So it is necessary to strengthen the power of advertisement and finally reach the public successfully. Due to such motivations, this thesis intends to analyze advertising from memetics angle on the basis of the meme replication process. It is hoped to enlighten the marketers in practice and create more devices or factors as successful memes to enrich advertising language. To realize the research objective, a qualitative-based, descriptive-explanatory method is applied to analyze memes in advertising. A bulk of convincing examples are provided to show how memes work in information spreading, and no illustration or picture is involved in general.2. Literature Review on Memetics in AdvertisingWith the growth of economy and the passage of time, advertisement plays an important part in conveying information to the public. It is known that language is of great significance in advertising transmission. Current researches on advertising language have had some achievements from a memetic angle. To have a good understanding of how the memetics works in advertising, the knowledge of previous studies on advertising language and memetics should come first.2.1. Previous Studies on Advertising Language at Home and AbroadIn respect of previous studies on advertising language at home and abroad, a great variety of interpretations or descriptions were provided from different angles. Zhao (1992) who describes lexical features of advertising language, He (2001) who makes a description of its rhetorical features in detail and Bai (2004) who analyzes the techniques of creating advertising language are representatives at home; while delegates abroad as Leech, G. N. whose main contribution depends on his findings in the functions of the most frequently used adjectives and novel compound words used as adjectives in English advertisements, and Vestergaard, T and Schronder, K (1985) who associate advertising language structure with its functions.2.2 Previous Studies on Memetics at Home and AbroadAs to previous studies on memetics at home and abroad, Gui, in Chinese academic circle, reminded us to notice the study of memetics in the preface of Language and Culture (Gu, 2002; Lu, 2002), and He (2003) also takes great interest in it. Some articles also introduce meme and memetics, such as Memetics and Social Usage of Language (He, 2003; He, 2003); Memetics and Social Science-Application of Genetic Theory in Language (Xia, 2003; Shi, 2003); Memes and Translation (Wang, 2004); Chestermans Theory of Translational Norms (Han, 2004), etc.Meme theory is a fascinating framework abroad. Besides The Selfish Gene (Dawkins, 1976), Meme theory also gains endorsement of the distinguished philosopher Daniel Dennett. In his two famous works, Consciousness Explaided (1993) and Darwins Dangerous Idea (1995), he uses memetics to explain why some ideas can be eternal as genes do. In 1996, Richard Brodies Virus of the Mind: the New Science of the Meme and Aaron Lynchs Thought Contagion: How Belief Spreads through Society published were all devoted to the subject of memes and contributed to memetics in different ways. In 1999, with the publication of The Meme Machine, Susan Blackmore made a particular contribution to memetic study. She explains some social phenomenon in a new way based on the assume of memes, such as religion, unselfishness, etc. 2.3 Memetic Research in AdvertisingAdvertising benefits from the propagated nature of meme in reaching the public, which encourages many marketers to apply the meme concept to advertising research. In this thesis, we will review the ideas of several more influential pioneers, including Geoff Ayling, Jay Conrad Leveinson, and Paul Marsden.2.3.1 Geoff Aylings ResearchThe Australian advertising veteran, Geoff Ayling, is one of the earliest marketers who have embarked on the reseach of advertising from the perspective of memetics. He points out that meme is the missing piece to the advertising puzzle, and his famous work Rapid Response Advertising (1988) builds a strong case for the use of memes in marketing and advertising. The author tries to show marketers how to fire their advertising messages straight at the public by using the memetic technology, and the publishing of this book brings the meme concept into the popular usage in advertising. In this book, the working definition of meme, the nature of meme, the operation of meme in advertising are discussed.2.3.1.1 Definition of Meme in AdvertisingGeoff Ayling (1988: 4) gives the working definition of meme as “in the context of advertising, a meme is an idea or concept that has been refined, distilled, stripped down to its bare essentials and then super-simplified in such a way that anybody can grasp its meaning instantly and effortlessly”. According to this definition, we can learn two basic features of meme: simple and self-explanatory. In view of these two features, a meme is able to slip into the mind very easily and create instant understanding. This is what Geoff Ayling called “Rapid Response Advertising”.2.3.1.2 Nature of Meme in AdvertisingGeoff Ayling points out: the power of meme lies in its infectious nature. Once meme has duplicated in a mind, it can develop into a communicable belief in no time. As soon as it spreads through the public, it becomes fixed. Geoff argues that simplicity, emotional impact and critical mass are three critical premise for a meme to become infectious, and another nature of meme is that it is subliminal. Geoff Ayling states (1998: 2) “memes have an enormous impact on our lives. Being instantaneous transmitters of information, they invade our minds without either our knowledge or our permission, and initiate a chain reaction. Acting both above and below the cognitive threshold of awareness, memes creates a shift in behavior, which is the ultimate goal of all advertising.” Geoff holds that memes can be a factor that induces a consumer to buy products and services which he will or will not purchase.2.3.1.3 Operation of Meme in AdvertisingGeoff argues that memes can be qualified, quantified, calibrated, counted, layered, stacked, bundled and engineered. 1. Memes can be qualified. Geoff lists seven questions to check whether your meme is a viable one or not; 2. Memes can be qualified. For the sake of assessing the ability of the meme, Geoff classifies memes into four categories in order of potency: A-meme, B-meme, Clichs, and fluff; 3. Memes can be calibrated. Calibrating memes means numerically rating them in order to assess their likely degree of effectiveness; 4. Memes can be counted. Counting meme means to qualify and quantify each new advertising until you know exactly how many memes there are; 5. Memes can be layered. Layering memes means to arrange different kinds of memes in a patterns or sequence to create an overall energy; 6. Memes can be stacked. Stacking memes is possibly the most powerful technique of all, which means “placing different kinds of memes on top of each other to create a compound meme”; 7. Memes can be bundled. Bundling memes involves creating an extremely attractive meme which appears to be completely innocent, and imbedding the real meme within it-Trojan Horse, in fact. 8. Last, memes can be engineered. The techniques to engineer a meme include transplant, enhance, adapt and modify and existing meme.2.3.2 Jay Conrad Levinsons ResearchAs a follower of Geoff Ayling, another extraordinary marketer Jay Conrad Levinson also takes the “meme” concept in the marketing area. In his most recent book, Guerrila Creativity (1998), Jay first gives the definition of meme as “a self-explanatory symbol, using words, action, sounds, or pictures that communicate an entire idea” and “Guerrilla Creativity means enlisting the wondrous power of meme in your advertising.”Then, Jay describes the function of the meme concept in advertising. He holds that a meme can simplify the new information and has the power to make use of the easiest understanding method to convey the most complicated message and leave a long lasting impact to change the consumer mind to love and buy your product or service.2.3.3 Paul Marsdens ResearchPaul Marsden, a psychologist in University of Sussex, believes that the meme science can provide a new impulse for marketing. He is currently completing a project which includes the following issues as: firstly, the development of a technique that evolves “memetic” customer mind maps using associative hypertext networks (with Jonan Bollen); secondly, the development of “memetic engineering” in marketing as an alternative evolutionary approach to traditional approaches dominated by rational action theory.In order to help companies or individuals enhance their branding positioning, Paul builds up a marketing company named “Brand Genetics”, which operated on a new technique called “meme-mapping”. The theoretical base of this technique goes like this: “genes of meaning”.In conclusion, although there are a range of researches on memetics, and achievements can not be overlooked, memetics is a relatively new theory and it has not been given enough attention in the Chinese academic world. Therefore, attempts are needed to do further examination of the relationship between meme and advertising language, and to penetrate into memes used to enrich advertising language, which has rarely been touched upon in depth.3. MemeticsFirst proposed in Richard Dawkins classic work, The Selfish Gene, memetics has proven a useful theory to other disciplines. Since the introduction of memetics into China, three main schools have formed: information processing, thought contagion and cultural evolution (He, 2003: 202). Memetics is a theoretical and empirical science that studies the replication, spread and evolution of memes (Zhuang, 2005: 2). As memetics is still a newly invented theory, an elaborate view will be provided about it.3.1 Meme and MemeticsThe term “meme” was first coined and put forward by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene in 1976. Since the birth of this term, every scholar has his or her own working definition within their own specific research. Despite its diversity, the thesis shall only list definitions offered by the two most authoritative representatives - Dawkins and Blackmore.Dawkins (1976: 192) describes memes as “units of cultural transmission” which “propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation”. As examples of memes, Dawkins suggests “tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches”. In other words, meme is the information people copy by imitation. Blackmore (2002: 18-21) restates the meme definition, arguing that “everything you have learned by copying it from someone else is a meme; every word in your language, every catch-phrase or saying. Every story you have ever heard, and every song you know, is a meme.” She further points out that memes, like genes, are replicators.Memetics is a neo-Darwinian approach to evolutionary models of cultural information transfer based on the concept of the meme. It is an intellectually rich but debatable field which seeks to explain how our minds and cultures are designed by natural selection acting on replicating information, just as organisms evolve by natural selection acting on genes. However, proponents of memetics believe that memetics has the potential to be an important and promising analysis of culture using the framework of evolutionary concepts.3.2 Process of Meme ReplicationAccording to Heylighen, to get copied, a strong meme pass a life circle consisting of four stages. At each stage there is selection. 1. Assimilation. The presented meme must be respectively noticed, understood and accepted by the host to be assimilated. 2. Retention. It is better for the meme to be kept in the hosts memory for longer time, because it will have more opportunities to spread further by infecting other hosts. 3. Expression. In order to infect more people, a meme should urge its host to express or communicate as much as possible. 4. Transmission. An expression needs a person or a physical vehicle to reach another individual. A meme should encourage its hosts to put as much effort as possible towards publicizing and transmitting it.4. An Analysis of the Memes in English AdvertisementFrom the previous sections, we can learn that memetic studies at home and abroad have gained fruitful results. Marketers apparently realize that the contagious nature of memes in advertising can help successfully and efficiently introduce targeted products and services to customers, luring them to buy what they thought are necessary or not. And it is known that memes in advertising must go through four processes of replication, so the most efficient way to make the advertising well-known is to have powerful memes that can rather easily go through such replication processes, maximizing the memetic impact. Therefore, to reach the end, “forms of memes” must be clear, that is to say, we need to be wise to the positive role that memes play in advertising, and means by which the advertised can be of publicity.4.1 Rhetorical Devices as Memes in English AdvertisingRhetoric may serve several functions in advertising language, like attracting attention, generating a positive mood, or communicating the essence of a message in a fast and effective way. From the memes eye, various rhetorical devices are just different “forms of memes” since they have been widely used for ages to deliver ideas. We will discuss rhetorical devices as memes from phonetic rhetoric, lexical rhetoric and syntactical rhetoric aspects to meet the basic requirements for a successful meme: exactness, visualization and vividness.4.1.1 Phonetic Rhetorical Devices as Memes in English AdvertisingAdvertisers have made full use of the sound merits. They try hard to bring out the sound effect to please peoples ears and to attract their attention. Phonetic rhetorical devices as memes in advertising language mainly consist of rhyme and alliteration.Rhyme is a successful meme that has been defined as the similarity or identity of sound that exists between accented syllables that occupy corresponding positions in two or more lines of verse. By far the most common form is “end rhyme”, in which the ends of lines correspond in sound. e.g.“Pepsi-Cola hits the spot, twelve f