Translational and transnational queer fandom in China: the fansubbing of Carol

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the Chinese fan translations of the film Carol 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 an 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, we argue that Jihua has strategically used this film to make a cultural intervention in domestic debates.

KEYWORDS:

• Carol
• fansubbing
• queer cinema
• translation
• world making

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Throughout this article, we use the term “queer” in an inclusive sense to refer to all non-heteronormative sexualities as well trans* and other non-gender-conforming identities.

2. The number of subtitling groups in China peaked in 2005. Many were closed down because of the rise of private commercial web-casters and the increasing tightened copyright control by the Chinese government since 2009. However, in 2014, there were still more than 80 active online subtitling groups. See Darrell William Davis and Emilie Yueh-yue Yeh 2017.

3. Cornel Sandvoss (2005, 8) offers a more inclusive definition of fandom based on the regular consumption of a text alongside an affective investment in that consumption. We agree that it is not necessary to create derivative works to be a fan of a text (or another object), but at the same time, the production of derivative works is a common feature of many media fandoms and one that has traceable results.

4. Douglas Schules (2014) makes a similar point about the lack of contact between fan and translation studies work on fansubs.

5. However, as Tessa Dwyer (2017, 141–148) notes, much of this early work focuses on translation of Japanese media; translations of other cultural products show a wider variety of translation strategies.

6. We thank Jihua founders for providing this information.

7. Feminist Voice’s Sina Weibo and Wechat account were forced to close down in March 2018.

8. Interview with two members from Jihua subtitling group, Beijing, March 30 2019.

9. We thank Jihua founders for providing this information.

10. The original Chinese is: 相比许多同性电影热衷于大尺度卖肉，《Carol》没有轰轰烈烈的性爱场面，也没有撕心裂肺的真情表白。相反的，它处处显示出克制和含蓄，以凸显那个同性矫正高压年代里，人们追求真爱的勇气。作为一部女权电影，《Carol》并不像《末路狂花》等老牌经典那样，充满了控诉、震撼和悲恸。相反的，整体来看，它的调子内敛却有力，哀而不伤，并拥有一个难得的明亮结局。它告诉我们，无论身处哪个时代，无论那个世界是否公平、宽容，它都无法夺走我们爱的权力。Accessed on May 18 2019 from http://les.org.cn/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=41611&highlight=%BF%A8%C2%DE%B6%FB.

11. See the discussion in Zhihu.com, China’s largest Q&A social platform, “怎样看待《卡罗尔》没有提名88届奥斯卡最佳影片和导演？” (How to see the fact that Carol was not nominated for the best picture and director in the 88th Oscar Academy?) Accessed from https://www.zhihu.com/question/39496181.

12. Jihua revised its first translation of Carol and released a new version in Blu-ray format in late 2016. The version that we used for analysis is the revised version.

Additional information

Funding

This paper is related to, though not directly funded by, our ongoing AHRC project [110922] “Translating for Change: Anglophone Queer Cinema and Chinese LGBT+ Movement” [Reference no: (AH/S00209X/1)]. It was also during this funding period that this paper was revised and submitted.

Notes on contributors

Ting Guo

Ting Guo is Senior Lecturer in Translation and Chinese Studies in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Exeter, UK. Her research interests include translation and history, Chinese cinema, and modernity and sexuality. She is the author of Surviving Violent Conflicts: Chinese Interpreters in the Second-Sino Japanese War (1931–45) (2016). Her research focuses on the pivotal role of translator in the reproduction and dissemination of knowledge as well as in social and political changes. Her ongoing AHRC funded project “Translating for Change: Anglophone Queer Cinema and the Chinese LGBT+ Movement” explores new ways to visualize translated Anglophone queer culture in China and its interactions with both Chinese queer cinematic culture and LGBT+ rights movements. E-mail: [email protected]

Jonathan Evans

Jonathan Evans is Senior Lecturer in Translation Studies at the University of Portsmouth, UK. He is the author of The Many Voices of Lydia Davis (2016) and co-edited The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Politics (2018). He has also co-edited special issues of Journal of Specialized Translation (2014), TranscUlturAl (with Helen Ringrow) (2017), and Revista Tradumatica (2018). He has published articles and chapters on film remakes as translation, literary translation, and translating games. He is Col on the AHRC funded project “Translating for Change: Anglophone Queer Cinema and the Chinese LGBT+ Movement.” E-mail: [email protected]