Serbian memes in the Canadian diaspora: a  case of cultural compromise

Title: Serbian memes in the Canadian diaspora: a  case of cultural compromise
Variant title:
  • Les mèmes serbes dans la diaspora canadienne: un compromis culturel
Source document: The Central European journal of Canadian studies. 2014, vol. 9, iss. [1], pp. 123-136
Extent
123-136
  • ISSN
    1213-7715 (print)
    2336-4556 (online)
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Rights access
embargoed access
 

Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.

Abstract(s)
As one of the most constant propagators of Darwin's theory of evolution in our times, Richard Dawkins claims that we are the only species capable of cultural transmission of information in such a way that it can give rise to a form of evolution. This is how Dawkins introduces the meme as a unit of cultural transmission and as the agent of cultural evolution. The survival of the meme depends on its psychological appeal, and a new meme will replicate itself whenever favourable conditions arise. Any given diaspora makes for such a replication-inducing environment for the memes originating in the homeland. Commonly known as cultural traits, such memes can be found in diaspora literature. The aim of this article is to identify the memes that are described in the literature of Canadian authors of Serbian origin and compare that meme pool with typical Canadian values. Synchronic digraphia, 'inat,' and 'slava' are three uniquely Serbian units of culture that are explored in the cultural environment of Canada.
Un des propagateurs les plus constants de la théorie darwinienne de l'évolution, Richard Dawkins, affirme que nous sommes les seules espèces capables d'effectuer la transmission culturelle de l'information de façon à provoquer une forme d'évolution. Dawkins invente le concept de mème comme étant l'unité de la transmission culturelle et l'agent de l'évolution culturelle. La survie du mème dépend de son importance psychologique; le nouveau mème se reproduit à l'identique toutes les fois que les conditions sont favorables. Toute diaspora constitue un bon environnement pour la réplication des mèmes provenant du pays d'origine. On peut trouver ces mèmes, reconnus comme traits culturels, dans la littérature de la diaspora. Cet article se propose d'examiner les mèmes qui sont décrits dans les śuvres d'auteurs canadiens d'origine serbe tels que, par exemple, « digraphia synchronique », « inat » ou « slava », des éléments culturels typiquement serbes, en les envisageant dans le contexte des valeurs canadiennes.
Note
This research was supported by the project 178014 granted by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia.
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