Fansubbing in China, with particular reference to the fansubbing group YYeTs

Abstract

This paper examines fansubbing as a social phenomenon in the complex socio-political context of China. With reference to the fansubbing group YYeTs, the discussion will focus on both textual and extra-textual levels of Chinese fansubbing in order to explore how it strives to introduce contemporary foreign audiovisual products into the Chinese context. The emerging discussion will draw briefly on the persistent development of fansubbing in China in spite of repression by the government. It will explore the inner structure of YYeTs in terms of the distribution of labour among members of the group and its methods to recruit and train newcomers. A further focus will be the creativity in fansubs (e.g. the use of explanatory notes and colloquial language) and the influence of such creativity on the subtitling in state-sanctioned subtitling practice in mass media.