Those who help us understand our favourite global TV series in a local language

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to critically analyse and systematise the debate concerning non-professional subtitling of TV series and movies in some non-English-speaking countries. Most of the studies on fansubbing deal with a specific problem, and they are based on various theoretical frameworks. This paper attempts to merge them into one coherent framework that can serve as a basis for subsequent research. The article addresses the issue of non-professional translation as a solution to the lack of official translations, but also as an alternative strategy for translating the texts of popular culture. The paper is divided into four parts. The first defines the phenomenon of fansubbing. The second shows how professional and non-professional translations differ. The following two parts, based on different national case studies, answer the questions: who are fansubbers, and what are their motivations?

Iranian Amateur Subtitling Apparatus: A Qualitative Investigation

“…This research provides a glimpse into amateur subtitling in Iran and offers some interesting insights. Regarding the profile of amateur subtitlers who participated in this survey, the findings seem to show that Persian fansubbing is a male-oriented activity and is popular among youths; in line with fansubbing in other countries (Cemerin & Toth, 2017;Duraner et al, 2017;Luczaj & Holy-Luczaj, 2017;Luczaj et al, 2014). Additionally, the results reveal that translation and computer-related studies were the most representative disciplines among fansubbers.…”

“…This should be mentioned that: all the facts mentioned in this film have been produced by a bunch of crazy people who want to say that democracy is always the winner and Iranians are a wild and uncivilized nation. 00:00:06,000 00:00:11,000 (5.00) 300 leisure, to receiving monetary incentives from pirate streaming sites, to sharing the enjoyment of watching a film with others (Luczaj & Holy-Luczaj, 2017). Teamwork and collaboration among fansubbers seem to work in some specific cases, such as Netflix original tv series for which all episodes of a season are released at once, or for important events like the Academy Awards, where the translation of the program is expected to be released very quickly.…”

Contrastive analysis of English fan and professional subtitles of Korean TV drama

“…Fan groups have been understood as early adopters to new online affordances, fan subtitles as prime examples of participatory culture and user generated content (Lee 2011;O'Hagan 2009O'Hagan , 2012, and fan translation as a collaborative practice of problem-solving and textual poaching, i.e. members of the fan community appropriating the series they love (Innocenti & Maestri 2010;Jenkins 1988 Without attempting to arrive at a profile of a typical fan subtitler (but see Luczaj & Holy-Luczaj's 2017), we can summarise for fan subtitlers that they work from within a fan community and design target texts for that same community, they typically work quickly and collaboratively, and they can be regarded as viewers and fans who are at the same time language and culture experts (see Figure 1). Fansubbing as an AVT practice can be conceptualised as a collaborative problemsolving task that does typically not earn its translators money, but may give them social and cultural capital within the community.…”

The Impact of Exposure to the Game of Thrones on Saudi Male Identity

“…Over the last decade, American dramas have been broadly channelized to other cultures and countries (Luczaj & Holy-Luczaj, 2017). American dramas have been exported to different countries in different continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, Europe, and Gulf countries including Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia (Sayfo, 2020).…”