more on viral videos....and translation studies

I am totally over viral videos and what I like to call 'viral news stories' (did anyone go any further than reading the headline about inflation and fellatio being confused?) but I can't seem to get them out of my head. Perhaps a sign of their success?

Either way, I've been reading about the history of translation studies today and it struck me that the notion of meme could be useful in our description of all things 'viral'. Memes, like genes, propagate from person to person, they can be thought of as the units of cultrual transmission. A recent example is the breast cancer awareness phrase, 'I like it on the...',  that is currently doing the rounds. This might work too for viral videos. The video itself could be the meme, or it could introduce another meme. This kind of cultural transmission - the circulation of memes - is not new. Not in any way new. All you that is different about viral memes is the increased speed coupled with increased saturation.

By coincidence, someone I was talking to this afternoon used the notion of 'meme' just after I finished reading a commentary on Andrew Chesterman's (1997) book Memes of Translation. The Spread of Ideas in Translation Theory. There must be something 'memetic' in the air...

Blogs

I'm interested to know what language / translation blogs people are following so I've added a few of the blogs I follow to the Useful Links section - do send me any recommendations?

The cat in the bin; a baudelairean take?

In these days of the 'odd news' stories that circulate on a global scale, we all know about the English bank worker who lovingly stroked a cat and then dumped it in a wheelie bin (this story has replaced the one about southwest air steward, which, in turn, replaced the one about the psychic octopus...).

I like the cat recycler, however, because it reminds me of the antics of the characters in Baudelaire's poem Le Mauvais Vitrier. Even just these few lines explain her behaviour better than any of the hundreds of journalists who have commented on the story over the past week:

C’est une espèce d’énergie qui jaillit de l’ennui et de la rêverie ; et ceux en qui elle se manifeste si inopinément sont, en général, comme je l’ai dit, les plus indolents et les plus rêveurs des êtres.

I imagine Baudelaire would have had endless fun with these global odd news stories (global oddities?) but, please, I've really had enough.

translation conference

Although the semester is about to start, I'm already looking forward to the Shifting Paradigms conference on translation and the humanities. Have a look at the program!

Shifting Paradigms Conference

Amateur thursdays

This caught my eye - I hope they manage to combine Vogue's style with the NYRB's content. It looks like any support from $10 up would be appreciated.

amateur thursdays - a webcast about books

Update on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 10:22PM by Mairi McLaughlin

So Amateur Thursdays raised the funding, so check out what they are offering!

Amateur Thursdays