Fan Translation and Its Relation to Fandom

1. The Concept of Fandom

The term fandom combines “fan” and “kingdom,” meaning the community or culture of fans.
In media and fan studies, a fan is someone with a strong emotional connection to a person,
product, or work, who actively participates in fan-related activities.
Fan translation is deeply rooted in fandom. It is not meant to replace professional translation, but
to fill gaps left by the translation industry—usually texts or products that have little commercial
value.
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2. Amateur vs. Fan Translation
Amateur translation refers to any translation not done by professionals.
Other related terms include non-professional translation, user-generated translation, community
translation, crowdsourcing, and collaborative translation.
Example: Translating Wikipedia articles into local languages.
Fan translation, on the other hand, is done by fans who have an emotional attachment to a
cultural product (e.g., anime, games, novels).
It allows them to interact with and reinterpret their favorite works and share them with others.
Fan translation is a social and situated practice, produced for a specific audience .
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3. Fan Communities and Affinity Spaces
Fan translators often work in online communities where they collaborate, share, and discuss
translations.
These communities, or fandoms, have become global thanks to the internet and digital
technologies.
From an applied linguistics perspective, fandoms form affinity spaces —online environments
where people with shared interests (like fan translation) meet, collaborate, and learn together.
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4. Fan Translation as a Social Practice
Fan translation is part of fan labor, including:
Creating and sharing translated content,
Producing fan art, fanfiction, and music covers,
Promoting their work across platforms.

Fans see translation not as an isolated act but as part of a larger ecosystem of cultural
participation.
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5. Collaboration and Learning
Fan translation encourages interaction and collaboration.
Fans divide roles (e.g., translators, editors, proofreaders) and often receive feedback from their
audience.
This process helps them learn languages, improve skills, and gain intercultural understanding—
unlike the isolated nature of professional translation.
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6. Cultural Connection and Shared Knowledge
Fan translation connects people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
It raises questions such as:
Should translators domesticate or adapt texts if the audience already shares the same fandom
culture?
How does shared knowledge influence how fans understand and receive translated content?
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New Literacy Studies (NLS) and Fan Translation
NLS offers a sociocultural and ecological view of translation.
It defines literacy as reading and writing practices that are socially and culturally situated.
Applied to translation, NLS looks at both the process (how translation is done) and the product
(its social and cultural effects).

For example, when a fan translates a video game, NLS considers:

The translator’s motivation,
The reception of the translation,
Online interactions (feedback, comments, sharing).
Fan translation, therefore, becomes a multimodal literacy practice involving collaboration,
discussion, and digital participation.
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7. Prosumption and Producers
In fandoms, fans are both producers and consumers (prosumers).
They don’t just consume culture—they also create it.
This includes writing fanfiction, translating fan works, and reshaping cultural meanings.
Such practices show how fans actively participate in media production and language use.
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Main Types of Fan Translation

1. Fansubbing – fan-made subtitles for audiovisual content.

2. Fandubbing – fan-made dubbing, where fans translate and re-record voices.
3. Fan translation of games (romhacking) – translating and modifying video games.
4. Scanlation – translating scanned comics or manga.

Each type has different multimodal features and requires different technical and linguistic skills.
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8. Fansubbing
Fansubbing is the most studied form of fan translation.
It can be done individually or in teams.
Unlike professional subtitling, it follows more flexible rules about timing, layout, and style.
The goal is to make the content accessible to fans, not necessarily to meet professional standards.
Fans adopt two main strategies:
Foreignizing: keeping the original cultural elements (the “foreign flavor”).
Localizing: using local expressions to make the meaning clearer.

Fansubbing teams often include:

1. Transcribers
2. Proofreaders
3. Timers (sync subtitles with video)
4. Translators
5. Editors
6. Typesetters (graphic design)
7. Encoders (final file creation)
8. Directors (project supervision)

This structure resembles professional workflows, but remains volunteer-driven.

Audience reception also plays an important role: viewers give feedback and point out errors,
leading to improved versions.
In East Asia, viewers comment directly on-screen using systems which create an interactive
space between translators and viewers.
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9. Case Study: Nino the Fansubber
Nino is a self-taught Japanese learner who subtitles anime from Japanese into Catalan.
He Uses Spanish and English fansubs to crosscheck meaning, Applies online dictionaries and
Google Translate for accuracy,
Produces glossaries explaining Japanese cultural references.
He aims to preserve the Japanese flavor while making content understandable for Catalan fans.
Thus, he acts as an intercultural mediator between cultures.
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10. Fandubbing
Fandubbing involves translating scripts and recording new voices.
Example: Bolk, a Russian fandubber, recreates English cartoons into Russian.
He:
1. Watches the English version and notes difficult phrases.
2. Sight-translates and records each dialogue line.
3. Reviews and re-records as needed.
4. Collaborates with his partner for editing and publishing.

Bolk’s dubbing is playful and creative—he often imitates female voices and adds humor.
His goal is entertainment, not accuracy, showing how fandubbing mixes translation with
performance.
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11. Fan Translation of Games (Romhacking)
Romhacking involves translating and modifying older video games.
Example: Selo, a gamer who translates old English games into Spanish.
He uploads his translations online and discusses them with other fans, learning through feedback
and language reflection.
Other teams, like Gaming.cat, collaborate in groups to translate games into Catalan using
Telegram for coordination.
Fan translation of games combines IT skills, linguistic competence, and community
collaboration.
It promotes language learning, cultural exchange, and peer-based learning.
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Conclusion
Fan translation is a creative, collaborative, and socially embedded practice that bridges language,
culture, and media.
Through fansubbing, fandubbing, game translation, and scanlation, fans not only spread global
culture but also learn, teach, and connect through translation.
Viewed through the lens of New Literacy Studies, fan translation becomes a powerful form of
digital literacy, cultural participation, and community learning.
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Fan Translation Practices: Case Studies and Main Characteristics

1. Nino: A Case of Fansubbing

Nino is a fansubber who translates Japanese anime into Catalan (Vázquez-Calvo et al., 2019).
He learned basic Japanese on his own after watching a large amount of manga and anime.
While he uses Spanish fansubs to understand the Japanese script, he constantly crosschecks
meanings in English versions and online dictionaries.
Nino’s goal is to create a Catalan translation that keeps the original “Japanese flavor” and
cultural elements (culturemes) for Catalan-speaking anime fans.
When he doubts the accuracy of Spanish fansubs, he uses Google Translate as:

1. A script converter between romaji, kanji, and hiragana; and

2. A drawing board to manually write kanji and find their meanings in online dictionaries.

This process helps him produce more accurate and culturally faithful subtitles.
He also makes glossaries of culturally specific terms for each episode, acting as an intercultural
mediator between Japanese anime and the Catalan fandom.
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2. Bolk: A Case of Fandubbing
Fandubbing means fans translate and adapt scripts, then record new voices for audiovisual
content.
Unlike fansubbing, fandubbing is less researched academically.
Bolk is an active fandubber who works with his partner, Vic, who helps with sound and video
editing.
Bolk’s fandubbing process includes four main steps:
1. Watching the English version with subtitles and noting difficult phrases.
2. Sight-translating the dialogue into Russian and recording it immediately.
3. Checking problematic parts and re-recording if needed.
4. Sending the final recording to Vic, who edits and publishes the episode.
Bolk’s fandubbing is informal, playful, and humorous.
He performs almost simultaneous sight translation, keeps the English audio underneath the
Russian one, and imitates the female voices of characters.
This results in a comic and creative version, different from both the original and professional
dubbed ones.
He also localizes his translation for the brony community (fans of My Little Pony), adding
humor and cultural adaptation.
Bolk’s case shows how fandubbing is both intercultural mediation and a creative, community-
based activity.
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3. Selo and Link: Fan Translation of Games (Romhacking)
Romhacking refers to fans extracting and modifying the text of old video games (from the 80s
and 90s) to translate them.
This involves decryption, editing, and graphic design.
Selo’s Case
Selo translates old English or Japanese games into Spanish and uploads his translations to
romhacking websites.
There, he discusses translation strategies with other fans and receives feedback, helping him
improve his English and translation skills.
The discussions focus on word choice, syntax, and comprehension mistakes, though criticism is
often expressed politely using hedging strategies.
This shows that language learning in fandoms is often implicit, cooperative, and socially
situated.
Link’s Case
Link leads a Catalan-speaking translation team called Traduccions Gaming.cat, founded in 2018.
They collaborate through Telegram and follow a professional-like structure:
Link acts as coordinator, assisted by senior and junior translators.
They choose modern, commercial games and often ask for permission to translate them into
Catalan.
Their goal is to promote Catalan as a legitimate language for video games.
They maintain strict linguistic standards, avoiding Castilianisms (Spanish influences) and
following the Institut d’Estudis Catalans dictionary.
The group even accepts regional Catalan dialects or Aranese when appropriate for certain
characters.
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4. Scanlation: Fan Translation of Comics and Manga
Scanlation is the process of scanning, translating, and distributing comics or manga online.
Scanlators act as cultural mediators and produsers (producers + users), shaping global fan
culture.
This practice has raised copyright debates
but also encouraged research on linguistic creativity and semiotic design in translation.
For instance, Shiro and her scanlation team, translate Japanese, Chinese, and Korean comics into
Spanish, using English as an intermediary language.
They apply foreignizing strategies, such as:
Keeping the original reading direction of the manga,
Preserving honorifics (san, kun, chan, sensei),
Using varied fonts to reproduce the original graphic style.
This reinforces their connection to Asian culture and demonstrates creative multimodal
translation.
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5. Shared Features of Fan Translation
Across fansubbing, fandubbing, game translation, and scanlation, several common features
appear:
1. Amateur Nature – Fan translators are not professionals; they translate voluntarily for passion,
fun, or recognition in their fandoms.
2. Proactivity – Fans actively participate in cultural production, not just consumption.
3. Multiple Goals – They translate for enjoyment, learning, cultural preservation, or quick
content access.
4. Multimodality – Fan translation combines text, sound, video, color, and design.
5. Multilingualism – Fans use several languages freely, even without full proficiency, often
translating through an intermediary language (e.g., English).
6. Collaboration – Fans interact online, receive feedback, and sometimes organize hierarchically
like professionals.
7. Technology Use – Fans use digital tools (subtitle editors, video encoders, image editors, online
dictionaries, Google Translate), but rarely professional CAT tools.
8. Ethical Awareness – They justify their work as promoting culture and minoritized languages
while respecting copyright boundaries.
9. Implicit Learning – Fan translation fosters language learning, IT skills, and collaboration,
often without fans realizing it.
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6. Conclusion
Fan translation differs significantly from professional translation.
It follows different purposes, workflows, and quality standards, focusing on community,
creativity, and cultural exchange.
However, fan-made translations rarely address accessibility (e.g., for hearing-impaired users), a
field where professional translators are still essential.
Future research should continue exploring:
Comparisons between professional and fan translations,
Ethical principles in fan translation, and
The sociocultural learning processes within fandoms.
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Fan Translation and Language Learning
Fan translation represents more than just the transfer of text between languages; it is a
communicative act that integrates cognitive, linguistic, and sociocultural dimensions. As fan
translators engage with multiple languages and digital tools, they naturally develop language and
literacy skills in complex, authentic contexts.
Because of this, fan translation can be used as a pedagogical tool in language classrooms. It can
make learning more motivating, interactive, and meaningful. Students can learn by:
exploring fan translation repositories as examples of real language use,
participating in online fan communities, and
reflecting on the entire translation process and its communicative situations.
Researchers such as Williams and Thorne and Vázquez-Calvo et al. suggest that incorporating
fan translation into education can make language learning more situated and playful,
encouraging learners to connect linguistic skills with cultural participation and creative
production.
To support this connection, various free online tools now allow fans and students to produce
voiceovers, subtitles, and dubbed videos, bridging entertainment, technology, and education.
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