Zimuzu and Media Industry in China

Abstract

Abstract:Zimuzu (字幕組, ZMZ) are Chinese online communities that share subtitled versions of foreign television and movies, often within hours of domestic release. Although unauthorized and unlicensed, the programs are streamed and downloaded on tablets and smartphones, free of charge. ZMZ allow many thousands of Chinese viewers to devour foreign fare (e.g., Prison Break, Desperate Housewives, The Big Bang Theory), sidestepping official channels of circulation. The volunteerism of ZMZ subtitlers is remarkable and distinctive, and it may not be too much to call ZMZ an industry. We propose understanding ZMZ within the spheres of marketization and the regulatory framework of China's media industry. In scale, organization, and professionalism, ZMZ typify slippage between state regulation and market-driven media consumption.

Where translation impacts: The non-professional community on Chinese online social media – A descriptive case study on the user-generated translation activity of Bilibili content creators

“…Scholarly efforts to examine the non-professional translation in the Chinese context have also shed some light on how this once academically overlooked activity develops in China. Some studies examine the wide choice of translation strategies adopted by amateur subtitlers (Lv & Li, 2015); some regard non-professional translation in China as a prominent social phenomenon and look into the dynamics of collective identity formation in Chinese fansubbing groups as well as their strategies to engage target audiences (Wang, 2017;Wang & Zhang, 2016; some focus on the volunteerism of Chinese fansubbing groups and their neoliberal work ethic (Davis & Yeh, 2017;Hu, 2012;Kung, 2016); and some explore new forms of non-professional translation activity, such as Danmaku subtitling (Yang, 2019), for the technology-empowered non-professional translation in China is also expanding to different areas and taking on new forms. The present study hopes to contribute to the existing scholarship by exploring a newly emerging form of non-professional translation activity on Chinese OSMtranslating public comments on China-related videos on international platforms and creating videos featuring Chinese translated comments.…”

Post Americana: Twenty-First Century Media Globalization

“…Netizens also volunteer for subtitling teams that each year make thousands of foreign titles almost instantly available. 33 Moreover, usergenerated content has mushroomed, again blurring the distinctions between media creators and consumers, and blurring distinctions between cultural points of origin.…”