Fan translation (or user-generated translation) refers to the unofficial

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

of various forms of written or multimedia products made by fans (

fan labor Fan labor, also called fan works, are the creative activities engaged in by fan (person), fans, primarily those of various media properties or musical groups. These activities can include creation of written works (fiction, fan fiction and revie ...

), often into a language in which an official translated version is not yet available. Generally, fans do not have formal training as translators but they volunteer to participate in translation projects based on interest in a specific audiovisual genre, TV series, movie, etc.

Media

Notable areas of fan translation include: * Fansubbing – The

subtitling Subtitles are texts representing the contents of the audio in a film, television show, opera or other audiovisual media. Subtitles might provide a transcription or translation of spoken dialogue. Although naming conventions can vary, caption ...

movies A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

television program A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

s, video games and other audiovisual media by a network of fans. For many languages, the most popular fan subtitling is of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

movies and American TV dramas, while fansubs into English and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

are largely of

East Asian East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

entertainment, particularly

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, ''tokusatsu'' mainly refers to science fiction film, science fiction, War fi ...

. *

Fan translation of video games In video gaming, a fan translation is an unofficial translation of a video game made by fans. The fan translation practice grew with the rise of video game console emulation in the late 1990s. A community of people developed that were inter ...

– this practice grew with the rise of

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally ...

emulation in the late 1990s and still mainly focuses on older classic games. These translations are typically distributed as

unofficial patch An unofficial patch, sometimes alternatively called a community patch, is a patch for a piece of software, created by a third party such as a user community without the involvement of the original developer. Similar to an ordinary patch, it alle ...

es that modify the

binary file A binary file is a computer file that is not a text file. The term "binary file" is often used as a term meaning "non-text file". Many binary file formats contain parts that can be interpreted as text; for example, some computer document files ...

s of the original game into new binaries. Vazquez-Calvo (2018) provides an example of how the complex process of fan translating, negotiating the translated product and the subsequent distribution online sets the basis for rich language learning environments. However, there are communities who decide to make use of crowd translation for their fan translation tasks, including fan translation of video games. These fan translation projects are taken up by fans and outsourced by game developers, on the promise that any fan translated version of games will be published as a playable version of the game. While professional translation and localization would be much needed here, it is also true that companies and developers may not always have the budget to allow large-scale multilingual localizations. Additionally, some fans do want to play games in their vernacular language, even though they can understand other languages. An example of these fans are a group of Catalan gamers who decide to translate games from English into Catalan on their own and with the permission of developers. They are plurilingual and can understand, at least, English, Spanish, Aranese (a variant of the Occitan language, with official status in Catalonia), and Catalan. With their linguistic activism, not only do they serve their linguistic community, but also portray interesting linguistic ideologies and configure a complex site for metalinguistic discussion and subsequent language learning prompted by the intercultural and interlinguistic process of fan translating. *

Scanlation Scanlation (also scanslation) is the fan-made image scanner, scanning, translation, and Image editing, editing of comics from a language into another language. Scanlation is done as an amateur work performed by groups and is nearly always done w ...

– The translation of

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

, especially

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

, as well as

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

and sometimes full

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s, by a fan network. Fans scan the comics, turning them into computer images and translate the text in the images. The resulting translations are then generally distributed only in electronic format. An alternative method of distributing fan-translated

sequential art In comics studies, sequential art is a term proposed by comics artist Will Eisner Will Eisner, '' Comics and Sequential Art'', Poorhouse Press, 1990 (1st ed.: 1985), p. 5. to describe art forms that use images deployed in a specific order for the ...

is to distribute only the translated text, requiring readers to purchase a copy of the work in the original language. * Fandubbing – The

dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...

s, video games and other audiovisual products by a network of fans. The translated audio could offer a translation of the original soundtrack or be completely replaced by a new version, normally with humorous purposes, such as a parody or abridged series.

History

Fan translation of audiovisual material, particularly fansubbing of

, dates back to the 1980s. O'Hagan (2009) argues that fansubbing emerged as a form of protest over "the official often over-edited versions of anime typically aired in dubbed form on television networks outside Japan" and that fans sought more authentic translated versions in a shorter time frame. Early fansubbing and fandubbing efforts involved manipulation of VHS tapes, which was time-consuming and expensive. The first reported fansub produced in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

was of ''

Lupin III , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese media franchise created by Monkey Punch. The series follows the endeavors of master thief Lupin III (character), Lupin III, grandson of gentleman t ...

'', produced in the mid-1980s, requiring an average of 100 hours per episode to subtitle.

Influence

The development of

cultural industry The term culture industry () was coined by the critical theorists Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) and Max Horkheimer (1895–1973), and was presented as critical vocabulary in the chapter "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception", o ...

, technological advances and the expansion of online platforms have led to a dynamic rise in fan translation. This has been followed by an increase in voluntary translation communities as well as in the variety of the content. The largest beneficiaries are the audience, readers and game players who are also fellow fans of various

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

products, since they are given the chance to receive first-hand information from foreign cultures. The entertainment industry and other cultural industries also benefit because their products are given global exposure, with a consequence of cultural immersion and

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...

. However, people also consider fan translation as a potential threat to professional translation.Mandelin, Clyde. "Legends of Localization: Fan Translation: Does it Help or Hurt Getting Professional Work?". Legends of Localization. Retrieved on November 16, 2016. In fact, fan translation communities are built on the spirit of sharing,

volunteering Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

, a

do-it-yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi- ...

attitude and most importantly, passion and enthusiasm for the same goal. Like a lot of specialization-based and art-based professions, rich experience and related knowledge are highly demanded in translation industry. Therefore, fan translation cannot be regarded as a threat. Instead, to some extent, it includes two significant senses: for fan translators, it means a period of valuable experience and a pack of adequate preparation no matter if they are willing to take their fun hobby into another level; for professional translators, it serves as a type of sources to be referred and consulted once they encounter similar situations. In addition, from the perspective of development of fan translation, the content is no longer limited within

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s and

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...

s. Various forms including educational courses, political speeches and critical news reports appear in recent years, which injects brand-new meaning to fan translation by extending its value from entertaining nature towards social significance. Just as Henry Jenkins states: "popular culture may be preparing the way for a more meaning public culture." As a newly emerging phenomena dependent on the progress of Internet-supported infrastructure, it surpasses its original focus on personal interest and makes itself visible in front of the entire society. As a result, it has to be admitted that fan translation is somehow an inevitable trend.

Problems concerning copyright and censorship

Fan translation often borders on

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

, as fans translate films, video games, comics, etc. often without seeking proper permission from the copyright holders. Studies of fan translators have shown that these fans do so because they are enthusiastic about the works they translate and want to help other fans access the material. Copyright holders often condone fan translation because it can help expose their products to a wider audience. As-well as encouraging their works to be translated, many rights holders threaten creators of fan translations. In 2007, a French teenager was arrested for producing and releasing a translated copy of ''

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the seventh and final novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It was released on 21 July 2007 in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publish ...

'' in French. In 2013, Swedish police took down a website which hosted fan-made subtitles for users to download. Releasing subtitles without including the original copyrighted work is not generally considered copyright infringement, but works that involve direct release of the copyrighted material like scanlation do infringe copyright law. Japanese copyright holders and publishers in particular often take down fan translations, viewing them as pirated versions of their works.{{Cite web , last=Diño , first=Gino , date=2015-09-03 , title=Pirate Translators: Why Fans are Localizing Games without Permission , url=https://slator.com/pirate-translators-why-fans-are-localizing-games-without-permission/ , access-date=2024-08-29 , website=Slator , language=en-US

References

Translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

Media

History

Influence

Problems concerning copyright and censorship

See also

References