Translation Studies
Research Seminar Series 2020-21
Speaker: Hanyu Wang, University of Edinburgh
Title: Fansubbing Queer Communities in China: The Translation and Reception of The L Word
Date: November 4, 2020
Time: 4-5 pm
Venue: on Collaborate Learn (through TS Bulletin Board) OR Guest Link: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/b33ca7ab05bf481e8227c64434487d41
In China, media depicting homosexuality have been strictly banned or heavily censored by official authorities, limiting the possibilities for local queer productions and the official import of foreign queer products. In such a hostile mainstream environment, international queer productions that are translated and uploaded by underground fansubbing groups have become one of the main sites for Chinese queer individuals to learn about, confirm, or reform their own queer identities and practices. Among the fansubbed works, The L Word (TLW) (2004-2009) is one of the earliest and most influential lesbian-centered American TV series imported to China. It has largely shaped Chinese female queer audiences’ understanding of queer identities, practices, and communities, especially when local queer productions are limited, and such understanding is mediated to the audience through translation.
Through a case study on the fansubbed TLW and its reception by Chinese female queer audiences, my research explores: 1) how fansubbing mediates the way foreign queer identities and experiences are conveyed to the audiences, and 2) how these mediated Anglo-American queer experiences are received and transformed by Chinese queer audiences to serve their local queer identities and practices. Working on audiences’ perspective, this project listens to the much-neglected voices of Chinese queer women about their desires and visual pleasures in watching queer representations on screen and their collective practices to make such representations available. The project also addresses fansubbing (group)’s critical role in queer world making, exploring how it works as a gathering site for Chinese queer fans to translate, share, view and discuss international queer works and issues. In this interactive process, queer individuals also have their identities constantly formed and reformed, verified and rejected.
Bio note:
Wang Hanyu is in her second year of full-time PhD in Translation Studies at University of Edinburgh, where she previously earned her MSc in the same subject. Her current research focus on the reception of fansubbed TV series by queer audiences.
The event is free and open to everyone.