一個有關(guān)亞裔的米姆小組是如何紅遍全球的

SYDNEY, Australia — The Facebook group was supposed to be a fun distraction from high school exams.

澳大利亞悉尼——Facebook小組本應(yīng)該是讓人暫時不去想高中考試的有趣調(diào)劑。

Its creators, a crew of Melbourne students who had bonded over weekends in Chinese language school, had noticed a Facebook group called “Subtle Private School Traits.”

小組的創(chuàng)建者，一群周末一起在中文學校學習的墨爾本學生注意到了一個名為“微妙的私立學校特質(zhì)”的Facebook小組。

They started joking about their own experiences: the struggles and joys of being a first-generation immigrant.

他們開始調(diào)侃自己的經(jīng)歷：作為第一代移民的掙扎和樂趣。

“We were like, what if we made a ‘Subtle Asian Traits’ page,” said Anne Gu, 18.

“我們就說，如果我們建一個‘微妙的亞裔特質(zhì)’頁面呢，”18歲的安·顧(Anne Gu)說。

The concept was simple: Share jokes about the traits, subtle or otherwise, that characterized the Asian-Australian experience, from cultural clashes with parents and the sanctity of bubble milk tea, to the groan-worthy pickup lines from white men on dating apps. (Are you from Asia? Because I’m China get your number.)

想法很簡單：分享能夠體現(xiàn)亞裔澳大利亞人經(jīng)歷的特征的笑話——無論隱晦還是顯明——從與父母的文化沖突和珍珠奶茶的神圣性，到約會應(yīng)用上那些令人嘆息的來自白人男性的搭訕。(你是來自亞洲嗎?因為我China要你的號碼。)(China音近“tryna”，有“在嘗試”之意。——譯注)

In September, they created a Facebook group and added their friends, expecting it would live and die within the young, Asian community in Melbourne.

9月，他們創(chuàng)建了一個Facebook小組，并添加了他們的朋友，以為它只會在墨爾本亞裔青年社區(qū)里自生自滅。

But as memes and jokes flowed, the follower count soared. Now, it’s edging close to 1 million followers, spawning spinoffs, and catapulting the conversation to the United States, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.

但隨著米姆和笑話流傳，關(guān)注者數(shù)量飆升?，F(xiàn)在，它已有接近100萬的關(guān)注者，孕育了衍生的小組，并將對話交流推向美國、加拿大、新西蘭、英國、香港和荷蘭。

“It kept on growing and we couldn’t believe it ourselves,” said Ms. Gu. “It’s tapped into something.”

“一直在增長，我們自己都不敢相信，”顧說。“它利用到了某種力量。”

That something is potent, young and international.

這是一種有力、年輕和國際化的東西。

Powered by global immigration and the borderless procrastination magnet of social media, the Facebook group has become a gathering place for laughs and reflection on the complicated experience of first generation Asian immigrants who have grown up reconciling the expectations of their heritage and the identity of the country they call home.

在全球移民和社交媒體這個讓人不務(wù)正業(yè)的無國界磁石吸引下，F(xiàn)acebook小組已經(jīng)成為這樣一個聚集地，大家一起開玩笑，并對第一代亞裔移民的復雜體驗進行思考，他們從小就要在族裔傳承的期待和他們視為祖國的國家身份之間尋求調(diào)解。

“We’ve been brought up in the in-between,” said Angela Kang, 21, another co-founder. And in the group that background is the norm.

“我們一直在中間地帶成長，”另一位聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人安吉拉·康(Angela Kang)說。而在這個小組里，這種身份背景是常態(tài)。

“Everyone’s just more supportive,” she said. “Everyone understands.”

”每個人都變得更加樂于助人，”她說。“每個人都能理解。”

Anne Gu recalled a memory that reflects the kind of experiences driving the group. One day at her private high school, her teacher discovered she didn’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese at home, but Shanghainese — one of more than 100 dialects.

安·顧回想起一段往事，反映了推動這個小組發(fā)展的那種經(jīng)歷。有一天在她的私立高中，她的老師發(fā)現(xiàn)她在家里不說普通話或廣東話，而說上海話——中國100多種方言中的一種。

“He stopped the whole class and asked if everyone knew there was a different dialect,” she said.

“他停下了在講的課，問大家是不是都知道，在那里是有一種不同的方言的，”她說。

She said she doesn’t mind that her friends ask her about her heritage, although answering questions can be “a bit tedious.”

她說她不介意她的朋友問她有關(guān)文化傳統(tǒng)的問題，盡管回答這些問題可能“有點煩人”。

The endless stream of memes in the “Subtle Asian Traits” group provides relief — it’s a chance to belong for once without having to try.

“微妙的亞裔特質(zhì)”小組中層出不窮的米姆提供了一種解脫——這是一次無需嘗試即可獲得歸屬感的機會。

“We don’t have to explain stuff,” she said.

“我們不需要解釋什么，”她說。

That sense of shared ease is an especially compelling draw in Australia, where an increasingly multicultural population exists alongside a largely white power structure. For many young Asian Australians, it can be hard not to internalize the perceived hierarchy, especially when immigration is becoming a more contentious issue ahead of next year’s federal election.

在澳大利亞，這種共有的輕松感格外有吸引力，在那里，越來越多元化的人口與主要是白人的權(quán)力結(jié)構(gòu)一起存在。對于許多年輕的亞裔澳大利亞人來說，這種等級的意識很難避免在心里固定下來，特別是在明年聯(lián)邦選舉之前，移民成為一個越來越有爭議的議題之時。

“It’s so hard because part of us wants to fit in and be in the crowd and be like them,” said Ms. Gu, of Anglo-Australians. “I’ve felt sad about who we are, where we come from, and just the identity that we hold.”

“這太難了，因為我們中的一部分人想要適應(yīng)并融入人群中，變得跟他們一樣，”安·顧在談到英裔澳大利亞人時說。“我曾經(jīng)為我們是誰、來自哪里，以及我們擁有的身份認同感到難過。”

And in Subtle Asian Traits, those differences are not so different after all; they’re the norm.

在“微妙的亞裔特質(zhì)”小組里，那些不同就不算什么不同了;它們是常態(tài)。

Everyday friends tag each other in memes featuring Drake, Pikachu and Expanding Brains that weigh in on a wide range of experiences, from the taste of a childhood favorite food to adopting a Western name solely for baristas.

每天，朋友們都在米姆中標上彼此的名字，里面有德雷克(Drake)、皮卡丘和“開腦洞”(Expanding Brains)等等，他們對各種經(jīng)歷表達看法，從兒時喜歡的食物的味道，到給自己取一個去咖啡館打工時專用的西式名字。

These memes — witty, visual and catered to the audience — have powered the group’s explosive growth by allowing self-reflection.

這些米姆——詼諧，直觀，并且是針對觀眾而作——通過鼓勵自我反思來推動小組的爆炸性增長。

“Memes express a culture’s belief, they tell its stories, they pass along these narratives from person to person,” said Dr. Justine Humphry, a lecturer in digital cultures at the University of Sydney.

“米姆表達了一種文化信念，它們講述了自己的故事，它們將這些敘述從一個人傳遞給另一個人。”悉尼大學(University of Sydney)數(shù)字文化講師賈斯汀·漢弗萊(Justine Humphry)博士說。

The simple act itself of sharing a meme and being able to decode it positions people as insiders within a culture, she added.

她還說，分享一種米姆，并且能夠解開其中的密碼，這種行為本身就可以把人們定位成一種文化的圈內(nèi)人。

“Those kinds of practices — of sharing and creating jokes that are readable within a community — are actually very, very powerful,” she said.

“這種分享和創(chuàng)造笑話的做法，在社區(qū)中是非常非常有效的，”她說。

Underneath the humor, weightier issues have become a topic of group discussion, such as the differing expressions of love across cultures and families. One woman shared a meme from the group with her mother, which led to a surprising conversation.

小組已經(jīng)開始討論幽默背后更沉重的話題，比如不同文化和家庭中對愛的不同表達。一個女人向母親分享了一個從小組看來的米姆，引發(fā)了一場令人驚訝的對話。

“Subtle Asian Traits got me my first ‘I love you’ from my mom so I’d like to thank you all for that,” she posted.

她在帖子里寫道：“‘微妙的亞裔特質(zhì)’讓我第一次從媽媽那里聽到了‘我愛你’，所以我想感謝你們所有人。”

Careful moderation of the group, which has set its tone, is a key factor of the group’s success, said Dr. Humphry. Members wanting to submit content to Subtle Asian Traits must first have their post approved by an administrator.

漢弗萊說，小組的內(nèi)容是經(jīng)過細心審核的，這是它成功的關(guān)鍵因素。會員要想在“微妙的亞裔特質(zhì)”小組提交內(nèi)容，必須首先獲得管理員批準。

“They provide a place where these kinds of conversations can be a lot more playful and a lot more experimental,” she said.

“它們提供了一個場所，讓這類對話可以變得有趣得多，也更具實驗性，”她說。

These days, about 3,000 posts daily keep the moderators busy, with all pitching in.

如今，小組里每天約有3000條帖子，這讓版主們忙得不可開交，大家都來幫忙。

Ms. Kang often scrolls through posts while on the train to university. Some days, she will sit at the computer for hours, approving posts, with the volume not dropping. “By the time I approve one post, four posts will come in,” she said.

安吉拉·康經(jīng)常在去上大學的火車上瀏覽帖子。有時，她一連幾個小時坐在電腦前批準帖子通過，但它們的數(shù)量還是沒有減少。她說：“我剛批準一個帖子，就有四個新帖進來。”

Some people in the group have criticized Subtle Asian Traits for being too focused on the Chinese and Vietnamese diaspora. “We have noticed that, we’re not going to deny that,” said Ms. Kang, adding most of the posts they receive are for those communities, though they are encouraging other communities to contribute.

小組里的一些人批評“微妙的亞裔特質(zhì)”過于關(guān)注中國和越南僑民。“我們已經(jīng)注意到了，我們不會否認這一點，”安吉拉·康說。她還說，他們收到的大多數(shù)帖子都是針對這些社區(qū)的，不過他們也在鼓勵其他社區(qū)做出貢獻。

In the meantime, others have taken matters into their own hands. A group for the South Asian diaspora called Subtle Curry Traitshas gained momentum. There is Subtle Christian Traits, Subtle Korean Traits.There are even Subtle Asian Datingand Subtle Asian Mates.

與此同時，其他社區(qū)也在發(fā)展自己的小組。一個名為“微妙的咖喱特質(zhì)”的南亞移民社區(qū)發(fā)展很快。還有“微妙的基督徒特質(zhì)”、“微妙的韓國特質(zhì)”。甚至還有“微妙的亞洲約會”和“微妙的亞洲伴侶”。

The group has also weathered accusations that it reinforcesself-hating stereotypesor being racist toward white people. Tan Falconer, the founder of another Facebook group popular among Asian-Australians, said that while the group’s jokes are empowering, “it’s empowering Asians in not a really good way because it’s belittling other races.”

該組織也被指責為強化自我憎恨的刻板印象，或?qū)Π兹顺址N族主義態(tài)度。坦·法爾科納(Tan Falconer)創(chuàng)建了亞裔澳大利亞人中很受歡迎的另一個Facebook群組，他說，盡管該小組的笑話有賦權(quán)的力量，“但它并不是真的在以一種很好的方式為亞洲人賦權(quán)，因為它在貶低其他種族。”

The group’s founders say they are keeping a close eye on the fun. They are screening posts for racism and even clamping down on memes referring to “gweilo,” a Cantonese slur for white people.

該小組創(chuàng)始人表示，他們正在密切關(guān)注這方面的笑話。他們正在篩查種族主義帖子，甚至刪除涉及“鬼佬”的米姆——這是粵語中對白人的蔑稱。

People of all ethnicities are welcome in the group so long as they abide by the rules. “We want to keep it as a safe space for everyone,” said Ms. Gu.

這個小組歡迎各民族的人加入，只要他們遵守規(guī)則。“我們想讓它成為每個人的安全空間，”安·顧說。

For its creators, both the challenges and the success of the group are shocking. They have already received several offers to buy the group. For now, they have all refused.

這個小組的挑戰(zhàn)和成功都令它的創(chuàng)建者們感到震驚。他們已經(jīng)收到了幾份收購該小組的提議。目前，他們都拒絕了。

“I’m not in it for the money, I’m not greedy,” said Ms. Kang, a third-year university student who is studying to be in the medical imaging field. “We’re just a group of teenagers doing it for fun.”

“我不是為了錢，我不貪心，”讀大三的安吉拉·康說。“我們只是一群為了好玩才做這件事的青少年。”