Research On The Current Fansubbing In China

A fansub (short for fan-subtitled) is a version of a foreign film or foreign television program which has been translated by fans and subtitled into a language other than that of the original. It is usually distributed among fans and recipients through the internet. The activity to make fansubs is called fansubbing. As a distinctive type of subtitling, fansubbing is carried out by the fansubbers who have no commercial purposes and translate out of fun and love.This paper offers a descriptive study of the current fansubbing phenomenon in China. The author records the selection process and operating procedures of fansubbers and comments on the norms and unique translation skills in fansubbing. The quality problems of fansubs are also discussed in the paper; the author not only digs out the causes for quality problems in fansubbing but also makes a few suggestions to improve the quality.The following are the finding of this study:(1) In China, major fansub groups such as YTET have set up a QQ-based workshop to select new fansubbers. In a fansub group, members assume different roles such as raw provider, timer, translator, editor and encoder. They are well-organized volunteer workers who receive and assign the task and distribute their work on line. The selection process and working procedure of fansub group provide the previously indepent members a platform for sharing information, quick communication and solving problems.(2) Fansub groups observe several norms strictly in their fansubbing activities, including: non-commercial and fair use of their works, loyalty to one fansub group only at one time, the prohibition of plagiarism and the prohibition of translation without watching the videos.(3) Fansubbing display unique translation skills including: use of annotation, useof web language and dialect, use of classical Chinese style and audio translation. (4) Quality problems occur in fansubs involve format errors, misspelling, mistranslation and misuse of punctuation. The author suggests that fansub groups introduce audience rating for their fansubs, establish cooperation between different fansub groups or work with the professional translation institutions so as to improve the fansubbing quality.The research indicates that fansubbing has posed challenges to the traditional standards and conventions of subtitling and has been used as a means to express the translators'creative innovation and self-empowerment. This new form of subtitling has some positive implication on translation teaching. The author appeals to the society and the academic circle for more concern over the active online fansub groups.