Fansubbing, short for fan subtitling, is a new form of subtitling done by fans for fans voluntarily and collaboratively to distribute free fansubbed programs. Fansub is a virtual community where fansubbers communicate...Fansubbing, short for fan subtitling, is a new form of subtitling done by fans for fans voluntarily and collaboratively to distribute free fansubbed programs. Fansub is a virtual community where fansubbers communicate only through chatting rooms, forums, MSN or QQ. With the popularity of audiovisual programs on the Intemet, fansubs become well-known for their voluntary fansubbed programs and interesting fansubbing. However, little is known about the operating of this virtual community and the strategies of fansubbing humor. Thus, this dissertation explores the modus operandi of fansubs in China's Mainland, and discusses fansubbing strategies compared with that of mainstream subtitling, with particular emphasis on fansubbed humor in American TV series which are popular with Chinese audiences. Different from the mainstream subtitling which often domesticates the otherness in the foreign culture, fansubbing tends to rewrite and manipulate the translation in a more idiosyncratic and creative way. Fansubbers recreate the humor in an ＂abusive＂ way to explain the cultural difficulties. And their ＂abusive＂ manipulation of translation, especially in humor translation, which helps the audience to overcome the culture barriers, experience the cultural ＂otherness＂ while entertain the humor, has great potential to be adopted by other translators in dealing with translating cultural difficulties.展开更多
文摘Fansubbing, short for fan subtitling, is a new form of subtitling done by fans for fans voluntarily and collaboratively to distribute free fansubbed programs. Fansub is a virtual community where fansubbers communicate only through chatting rooms, forums, MSN or QQ. With the popularity of audiovisual programs on the Intemet, fansubs become well-known for their voluntary fansubbed programs and interesting fansubbing. However, little is known about the operating of this virtual community and the strategies of fansubbing humor. Thus, this dissertation explores the modus operandi of fansubs in China's Mainland, and discusses fansubbing strategies compared with that of mainstream subtitling, with particular emphasis on fansubbed humor in American TV series which are popular with Chinese audiences. Different from the mainstream subtitling which often domesticates the otherness in the foreign culture, fansubbing tends to rewrite and manipulate the translation in a more idiosyncratic and creative way. Fansubbers recreate the humor in an ＂abusive＂ way to explain the cultural difficulties. And their ＂abusive＂ manipulation of translation, especially in humor translation, which helps the audience to overcome the culture barriers, experience the cultural ＂otherness＂ while entertain the humor, has great potential to be adopted by other translators in dealing with translating cultural difficulties.
