An Exploratory Study of Fan-based Subtitling Culture in China: With a Reference to YYeTs

Elaine Tzu-Yi Lee

fansubbing culture ； China ； YYeTs ； copyright infringement ； Japanese animation translation ； interventionist tactics

翻譯學研究集刊

18輯（2014 / 12 / 01）

101 - 120

英文

Recent discussion in translation literature on fan subtitling, or fansubbing, has exclusively emphasized Japanese anime translation (e.g. Pérez-González, 2006), entirely overlooking its heterogeneous traits appearing in other cultures (e.g. Dwyer, 2012). Hence, this article sets out to explore the fansubbing culture in China, whose translation activity in literature has often been regarded as copyright infringement (e.g. Cintas and Sánchez, 2006), while drawing upon an example of an online forum called YYeTs. In addition to introducing the fansubbing platform in China, this study intends to investigate the unique position YYets holds, which simultaneously shares features of mainstream subtitling and Japanese anime fansubbing culture. In order to distinguish its specific features from those of Japanese animation translation as well as of mainstream official version, the study applies a TV series called ＂Rizzoli & Isles,＂ adopted from Tess Gerritsen's medical suspense novels ＂The Surgeon＂ and ＂The Apprentice.＂ This example serves to investigate these amateur translators' interventionist tactics. By examining specific screenshots of subtitles by amateur translators from YYeTs, this article discusses the potential effects they have upon the audience in comparison to those in commercial subtitling. Finally, this article summarizes the unique features the Chinese online forum YYeTs demonstrates and concludes that these fansubbers, along with the online forum, are actually blurring the traditional distinction between professional and amateur subtitling.

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