A Study Of Zhao Benshan’s Sketches From The Perspective Of Memetics

The sketch is a main part of the successive Spring Festival Galas. Especially, ZhaoBenshan’s sketches are the most outstanding. By virtue of his unique artistic styles, ZhaoBenshan, a common actor coming from the countryside in the Northeast, has been warmlywelcomed by the audience since he got on the stage. It can not be denied that Zhao Benshanhas played a positive role in promoting the development of the sketch. A lot of scholars didthe research to explore the characteristics of Zhao Benshan’s sketches from differentperspectives. The memes in Zhao Benshan’s sketches are common. The present study is justbased on the perspective of memetics to analyze the reason why Zhao and his sketches aresuccessful.The memes in Zhao Benshan’s sketches, language and non-language memes included,are typical. Most of language memes come from the quotation and analogy of pre-existingmemes. Coupled with the northeast dialect, the language becomes more unique. In addition,the non-language memes, such as costumes and body movements, play a supporting roleduring the performance of the sketches. These memes meet the selection criteria for memesand pass the stages of meme replication so as to make themselves replicated and passed onand to infect their new hosts successfully. Each stage is full of selection. However, the choicecan not be made without the hosts. Zhao Benshan and other actors or actresses, as the hosts ofmemes, express the memes wonderfully and skillfully and make them widely transmitted. Allthese memes are successful. Their application adds the brilliance for the sketches and pushesthe plots to the climaxes.The present study belongs to the qualitative study. The data are collected from ZhaoBenshan’s sketches of the successive Spring Festival Galas. These sketches have won theprizes, so they are distinct and representative. As an application and a supplement ofmemetics, the present study is hoped to contribute to the creation and development of thesketch.The thesis is made up of six chapters. Chapter1is an introduction to the thesis, such asthe rationale, the objective, research methodology and data collection and the significance ofthe present study. Chapter2presents the reviews of the sketch and memetics. Then the achievements and limitations of previous studies are analyzed and the perspective of thepresent study is pointed out. Chapter3focuses on a state of theoretical foundation, includingthe origin, definition, related concepts, stages of meme replication and selection criteria.Chapter4mainly shows the generation of memes in Zhao’s sketches from two aspects,namely language and non-language memes. Chapter5mainly analyzes how these memespass the four stages of meme replication and what selection criteria are satisfied. Chapter6isa conclusion which summarizes major findings gained from the analysis. Furthermore, somelimitations are pointed out and some suggestions for further studies are provided.