Understanding Fansub as One of the Audiovisual Translation Methods

The advancement of multimedia and internet technologies has led to thedevelopment of a new form of communication known as fansubbing that connects animefans from around the globe. Fansubbing can be regarded as a form of collaborative practicebecause it provides anime fans the opportunity to explain the infusion of foreign culturalelements in local culture, thus enabling the target audience to better understand the animeshows that they are watching. As a translation method, fansubbing also allows anime fansto share their knowledge and interests through a free digital network. In relation to thiscontext, this paper aims to discuss the position of fansubbing as a community’s contributiontowards understanding anime in a different culture. The discussion is mainly centred uponthe ideas posited by Hatcher (2005) and O’Hagan (2009) on fansub for Japanese animeand technology, Diaz-Cintas and Muñoz Sánchez’s (2006) and Pérez-González’s (2007,2012) on the conventional subtitling and fansubbing approaches, and Chiaro’s (2008) onviewers experience. Despite the differences between fansub activities and the conventional subtitling practices, this new experience somehow illustrates a practical combination ofthese two subtitling approaches. This paper is expected to contribute to a more in-depthunderstanding of fansub as an avenue for viewers to share their cultural knowledge with thetarget audience who have minimal knowledge about the source language, culture and thebackground of the anime. In addition, the paper will also seek to understand the potentialreception for anime amongst the target audience due to the effects of fansubbing.