Translational and transnational queer fandom in China: the fansubbing ofCarol

Abstract

This article analyses the Chinese fan translations of the film Carol (2015) and relevant paratexts by Jihua subtitling group, one of the most well-known Chinese lesbian fansubbing groups actively and explicitly advocating for LGBTQ rights in China, in order to develop understanding of transnational and translational queer fandom in China. There are thriving fan translation communities in China that work to translate media products that are not officially imported into the country, including LGBTQ media. The article first puts forward a theory of translational fandom in order to explain the role of translation in fandom, before exploring how Jihua network uses fan translation as part of its queer world making, focusing on its translation of Todd Haynes's Carol, reviews of the film and the paratextual materials created by Jihua network that position its translation. Rather than solely importing ideas about female homosexuality through the film, it is argued that Jihua has strategically used this film to make a cultural intervention in domestic debates.

Chinese translational fandoms: Transgressing the distributive agency of assemblages in audiovisual media

“…Transgressive engagement can additionally be achieved through fans’ world-making activities, as revealed by Guo and Evans (2020) in their analysis of the now defunct queer feminist translational fandom Ji Hua (or lesssub ). Noticeably, whereas lessub has a clearly designated social agenda of intervening in local heteronormative media and gender politics, most Chinese translational fandoms work with a greater variety of genres, facilitating interactions between fansubbing communities, fansubbed media, and viewers, and assisting them to voice individual and collective opinions across social media and cultural platforms.…”

“…The role of translation in fan-driven transcultural flows has been overlooked by social media. Guo and Evans (2020) navigate towards a theory of 'translational fandom' with an emphasis on reading media content across languages. Notably, their alliance with (queer) feminist fandoms in China can help moralise the tactical practices of communitybuilding and world-making sought by users-turned-mediators in transnational media exchanges.…”

A Complex Landscape of Fun, Queerness and Desire in China: Introducing Three Films by He Xiaopei

“…Despite the fact that homosexuality was decriminalized in 1997 and depathologised in 2001 in mainland China, the Chinese government still adopts strong censorship and silences public discussion and representations of LGBTQ+ issues (Huang, 2017;Zhao, 2020;Guo and Evans, 2020). Under such circumstances, the Chinese LGBTQ+ community follows the Western strategies of activism, namely increasing 'visibility' through being outspoken and full of 'pride', an approach that sometimes may seem counterproductive or even problematic.…”

Revisión sistemática de bibliografía sobre traducción audiovisual y estudios LGBTQ+ (2000-2020): dimensiones epistemológica y metodológica

“…En el caso de la combinación francés-inglés, son solo 3 estudios y 2 de estos son casos de adaptaciones de películas francesas mediante producciones norteamericanas (este tema se abordará con detalle en la sección 2.6). Por otro lado, son 3 estudios los Hikma 20 (2) (2021), 95 -126 que trabajan con la combinación chino-inglés (Bowman, 2010;Jiang, 2020;Guo & Evans, 2020), 1 estudio sobre el par indonesio-inglés (Boellstorff, 2003) y 1 estudio sobre el par griego-inglés (Asimakoulas, 2012). Un estudio incluye análisis contrastivos entre varias lenguas con el inglés (Lewis, 2010), mientras que otro aborda procesos de traducción mediante una lengua franca (Leung, 2016).…”