Translational queer fandom under “han-xu” politics in China: A case study of the Wanwan subtitling group
Keywords:
translational queer fandom, Wanwan, queer activism, han-xu politics, fansubbingAbstract
Building on previous studies about “non-confrontational” activism among Chinese queer translation groups, this article explores the subtitling and social media practices of Wanwan, a Chinese lesbian-oriented fansubbing group, from a cultural–ideological perspective. It argues that Wanwan’s practices can be better understood in the context of han-xu (??, reticent) politics, shaping a non-confrontational activist approach to fansubbing. This approach is manifested through diversified content that involves both queer and non-queer media resources, recontextualised translated subtitles, the creation of spaces for interactions, and the production of reflexive paratexts that refrain from overt criticism of cis-heteronormativity. The article contributes to an understanding of translational queer fandom in China by arguing that groups such as Wanwan not only foster a dedicated fan community and a “by queers for queers” world, but also bridge the communication gap between queer communities and cis-heteronormative groups without exacerbating the cultural and ideological tensions that might otherwise set them apart.
References
Aiyuou. (2020, November 12). ???????????????? [When will (we) be able to watch it in China’s cinemas]. [Comment on the video Film trailer: Same-sex love comedy Happiest Season is coming]. Bilibili. https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV12y4y1z7nj/?spm_id_from=333.999.0.0&vd_source=8a2a2c5c46786782e29f12aebeb293c0
Anonymous. (2023, November 7). ???????????? ??????????? [We need these audiovisual works to provoke thoughts. We need your posts to bring about changes]. [Comment on the post Life is dark but we should still believe in light]. WeChat. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/rFrFzc8a7_0ROQuveYWFZg
Baer, B. J. (2011). Translating queer texts in Soviet Russia: A case study in productive censorship. Translation Studies, 4(1), 21–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2011.528680
Baer, B. J., & Kaindl, K. (Eds.). (2018). Queering translation, translating the queer: Theory, practice, activism. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315505978
Baker, M. (2016). The prefigurative politics of translation in place-based movements of protest: Subtitling in the Egyptian Revolution. The Translator, 22(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2016.1148438
Baker, M. (2018). Audiovisual translation and activism. In L. Pérez-González (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of audiovisual translation (pp. 516–539). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315717166
Bandurski, D. (2018). Can the internet and social media change the Party? In W. W. Lam (Ed.), Routledge handbook of the Chinese Communist Party (pp. 372–390). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315543918
Bao, H. (2018). Queer comrades: Gay identity and Tongzhi activism in postsocialist China. NIAS Press.
Berlant, L., & Warner, M. (1998). Sex in public. Critical Inquiry, 24(2), 547–566. https://doi.org/10.1086/448884
Cao, J., & Guo, L. (2016). Chinese “tongzhi” community, civil society, and online activism. Communication and the Public, 1(4), 504–508. https://doi.org/10.1177/2057047316683199
Cao, W. (2019, September 11). ???????????????????? [A targeted approach: promoting the formation of a new socialist family civilization]. People’s Daily. http://opinion.people.com.cn/n1/2019/0911/c1003-31347531.html
?
Chen, Z., Ma, H., & Li, H. (Directors). (2021). Word of honor [TV series]. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12458172
Cheng, F. T. (2020). Visioning a queer documentary: Huang Hui-chen’s Small Talk. Continuum, 34(4), 530–542. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2020.1785080
Cronin, M. (2012). Translation in the digital age. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203073599
Derrickson, S. (Director). (2016). Doctor strange [Film]. Marvel Studios.
Díaz-Cintas, J., & Muñoz Sánchez, P. (2006). Fansubs: Audiovisual translation in an amateur environment. The Journal of Specialised Translation, 6, 37–52. http://www.jostrans.org/issue06/art_diaz_munoz.php
DuVall, C. (Director). (2020). Happiest season [Film]. TriStar Pictures; Entertainment One; Temple Hill Entertainment.
Evans, J. (2019). Fan translation. In M. Baker & G. Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (pp. 177–181). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315678627-38
Feng, X. (2023, March 18). ???“?????”?“???????”??? [The Party’s review on Everything Everywhere All at Once: “A daughter with a westernized lifestyle” goes trending]. Wenxuecity. https://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2023/03/18/12210760.html
Guo, T. (2021). ‘Love is love’ and ‘love is equal’: Translation and queer feminism in China. In M. Bracke, J. Bullock, P. Morris, & K. Schulz (Eds.), Translating feminism: Interdisciplinary approaches to text, place and agency (pp. 199–226). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79245-9_8
Guo, T., & Evans, J. (2020). Translational and transnational queer fandom in China: the fansubbing of Carol. Feminist Media Studies, 20(4), 515–529. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2020.1754630
Guo, T., & Evans, J. (2023). Screening international queer cinema in China. Transnational Screens, 14(3), 217–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/25785273.2023.2231754
Hanckel, B. (2016). Representations of LGBT youth: A review of Queer Youth and Media Cultures. Journal of LGBT Youth, 13(4), 410–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2016.1185764
Hartley, J. (2004). The ‘value chain of meaning’ and the new economy. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 7(1), 129–141. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877904040610
Haynes, T. (Director). (2015). Carol [Film]. Number 9 Films; Film4 Productions; Killer Films.
?
Ho, P. S. Y., Jackson, S., Cao, S., & Kwok, C. (2018). Sex with Chinese characteristics: Sexuality research in/on 21st-century China. Journal of Sex Research, 55(4–5), 486–521. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2018.1437593
Hu, T., Ge, L., Chen, Z., & Xia, X. (2023). Masculinity in crisis?: Reticent/han-xu politics against danmei and male effeminacy. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 26(3), 274–292. https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779231159424
Hu, T., Ge, L., & Wang, C. Y. (2024). A state against boys’ love?: Reviewing the trajectory of censorship over danmei. Continuum, 38(2), 229–238. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2024.2357335
Hu, T., & Wang, C. Y. (2021). Who is the counterpublic?: Bromance-as-masquerade in Chinese online drama—S.C.I. Mystery. Television & New Media, 22(6), 671–686. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476420937262
Huang, S. (2023). Reclaiming family, reimaging queer relationality. Journal of Homosexuality, 70(1), 17–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2022.2106466
Huang, S., & Brouwer, D. C. (2018). Coming out, coming home, coming with: Models of queer sexuality in contemporary China. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 11(2), 97–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2017.1414867
Jiang, M. (2022). Translating the unspeakable: Activist translation of sexuality into Chinese via social media. The Translator, 29(3), 362–377. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2022.2153433
Jiang, M. (2016). Chinese internet business and human rights. Business and Human Rights Journal 1(1), 139–144. https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2015.4
Jifei. (2020, November 26). ……????????????????????????????????? […it is impossible to see homosexuality in Chinese cinemas in decades. China is much more conservative than imagined]. [Comment on the video Film trailer: Same-sex love comedy Happiest Season is coming]. Bilibili. https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV12y4y1z7nj/?spm_id_from=333.999.0.0&vd_source=8a2a2c5c46786782e29f12aebeb293c0
Jin, H., & Ye, Z. (2023). Translating queer elements in Bohemian Rhapsody in China. Perspectives, 31(2), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2022.2105155
Jung, M. (2022). Quiet politics: Queer organizing in corporate Singapore. The Sociological Review, 70(5), 863–881. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380261221104386
Kwan, D., & Scheinert, D. (Directors). (2022). Everything everywhere all at once [Film]. IAC Films; Gozie AGBO; Year of the Rat; Ley Line Entertainment.
?
Lagerkvist, J. (2011). After the Internet, before democracy: Competing norms in Chinese media and society. Peter Lang. https://doi.org/10.3726/978-3-0351-0109-6
Lee, T. K. (2021). Distribution and translation. Applied Linguistics Review, 14(2), 369–390. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2020-0139.
Leonard, S. (2005). Progress against the law: Anime and fandom, with the key to the globalization of culture. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 8(3), 281–305. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877905055679
Liu, J., & Ding, N. (2005). Reticent poetics, queer politics. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 6(1), 30–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/1462394042000326897
Liu, J., & Zhao, J. (2021). More than plain text: Censorship deletion in the Chinese social media. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 72(1), 18–31. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24390
Liu, P. (2010). Why does queer theory need China? Positions: Asia Critique, 18(2), 291–320. https://doi.org/10.1215/10679847-2010-002
Liu, P. (2013). Queer Marxism in two Chinas. Duke University Press.
Liu, X. W. (2023). Queer sensation and non-representational queer reading: A case study of Wu Hao’s All in My Family. Studies in Documentary Film, 17(3), 240–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/17503280.2023.2169605
Magrath, R. (2020). “Progress… slowly, but surely”: The sports media workplace, gay sports journalists, and LGBT media representation in sport. Journalism Studies, 21(2), 254–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2019.1639537
Mattar, Y (2008). Perceptions and (re)presentations of familiarity and foreignness: The cultural politics of translation in the subtitling of Japanese animation by fans. Leisure/Loisir, 32(2), 353–378. https://doi.org/10.1080/14927713.2008.9651414
Ng, E., & Li, X. (2020). A queer “socialist brotherhood”: The Guardian web series, boys’ love fandom, and the Chinese state. Feminist Media Studies, 20(4), 479–495. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2020.1754627
Nornes, A. M. (1999). For an abusive subtitling. Film Quarterly, 52(3), 17–33. https://doi.org/10.2307/1213822
Nunes, J. M. (2018). Fish and elephant: Reexamining (in) visibility and claiming queer agency in China's first lesbian film. Journal of Chinese Cinemas, 12(1), 74–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508061.2018.1423818
Orrego-Carmona, D., & Lee, Y. (2017). Non-professional subtitling. In D. Orrego-Carmona & Y. Lee (Eds.), Non-professional subtitling (pp. 1–12). Cambridge Scholars.
Pérez-González, L. (2012). Co-creational subtitling in the digital media: Transformative and authorial practices. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 16(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877912459145
Pérez-González, L. (2016). The politics of affect in activist amateur subtitling: A biopolitical perspective. In M. Baker & B. B. Blaagaard. Citizen media and public spaces (pp. 118–135). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315726632
Qiushi. (2021, October 13). ????????????? [Xi Jinping: Cyberspace is not a lawless land]. Qiushi. http://www.qstheory.cn/zhuanqu/2021-10/13/c_1127952040.htm
Russo, A., & Russo, J. (Directors). (2016). Captain America: Civil war [Film]. Marvel Studios.
Russo, A., & Russo, J. (Directors). (2019). Avengers: Endgame [Film]. Marvel Studios.
Sigley, G. (2006). Sex, politics and the policing of virtue in the People’s Republic of China. In E. Jeffreys (Ed.), Sex and sexuality in China (pp. 43–61). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203967065
Song, L. (2021). Straightly Chinese: The emergence of systemic homophobia in China. In C. Hoon & Y. Chan (Eds.), Contesting Chineseness: Ethnicity, identity, and nation in China and Southeast Asia (pp. 305–317). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6096-9_16
Sullivan, H. (2023, April 26). Chizuko Ueno: The Japanese writer stoking China’s feminist underground. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/26/chizuko-ueno-the-japanese-writer-stoking-chinas-feminist-underground
Sun, H., & Wang, X. (Executive Producers). (2019). The untamed [TV series]. Tencent Penguin Pictures; NSMG.
Tymoczko, M. (2005). Trajectories of research in translation studies. Meta, 50(4), 1082–1097. https://doi.org/10.7202/012062ar
Tymoczko, M. (2010). The space and time of activist translation. In M. Tymoczko (Ed.), Translation, resistance, activism (pp. 227–254). University of Massachusetts Press.
van Dijk, T. A. (2006). Ideology and discourse analysis. Journal of Political Ideologies, 11(2), 115–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569310600687908
Veysset, S. (Director). (2022). La vie devant toi [Film]. Storia Télévision; Ango Production; France Télévisions.
Wang, D., & Zhang, X. (2017). Fansubbing in China: Technology-facilitated activism in translation. Target, 29(2), 301–318. https://doi.org/10.1075/target.29.2.06wan
Wang, G., & Ma, X. (2021). Representations of LGBTQ+ issues in China in its official English-language media: A corpus-assisted critical discourse study. Critical Discourse Studies, 18(2), 188–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2020.1738251
Wang, J. (2019). The other digital China: Nonconfrontational activism on the social web. Harvard University Press.
Wang, X. (2021). Construing community with a shared future in president Xi Jinping’s diplomatic discourse (2013–2018): The role of personal pronouns we and they. Critical Arts, 35(3), 35–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2021.1985154
Wang, Y., & Tan, J. (2023). Participatory censorship and digital queer fandom: The commercialization of boys’ love culture in China. International Journal of Communication, 17, 2554–2572.
Wanwan. (2023a). ???????????~??·??/??? [Welcome to Wanwan’s big stage! Join our public account team and translation team]. WeChat. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/lqVD36AK_2TEALTfGJyWUA
Wanwan. (2023b). ???????——???·????·??·???[After she opened the closet door—(French · Light Realism · Yuri · Mild Sensuality)]. WeChat. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8JHFaEAJWZjhdcu8hXmKAQ
Wanwan. (2024). ???? [About Wanwan]. Wanwansub. https://wanwansub.com/about
Whyke, T. W. (2023). Discourses of heteronormativity and power: The ethical position of Confucianism on same-sex behaviour in China. Journal of Homosexuality, 70(9), 1787–1806. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2022.2042663
Xi, J. (2017, October 18). ???????????????????? [Report to the 19th CPC National Congress]. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China. https://www.gov.cn/zhuanti/2017-10/27/content_5234876.htm
Yang, H.Y., & Zhang, Y. (Executive Producers). (2021). Word of honor [TV series]. Ciwen Media; Youku.
Yang, Z., & Tobin, M. (2020, August 3). China’s subtitle army. Rest of World. https://restofworld.org/2020/the-subtitle-army-of-china/
Yiwantongren. (2024). ???? [About us]. Yiwantongren Subtitling Group. https://ywtrzmz.net/about/
?
Yu, Y., Chan, T. F., & Huang, Q. (2023). Formulating the discourse of pro-work conservatism: A critical discourse analysis of Weibo posts in response to the implementation of the three-child policy. Feminist Media Studies, 24(3) 497–513. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2023.2200589
Yuzhongdemaotouying. (2020, November 13). ???????????????????????? [The same-sex theme is finally not tragic. Every time I watch a (same-sex) tragedy I get a big headache]. [Comment on the video Film trailer: Same-sex love comedy Happiest Season is coming]. Bilibili. https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV12y4y1z7nj/?spm_id_from=333.999.0.0&vd_source=8a2a2c5c46786782e29f12aebeb293c0
Zhang, H. (2018, November 11). ??????3???????????? [The Guardian re-released after 3 months with some scenes cut down]. Beijing News. https://m.bjnews.com.cn/detail/154191794714710.html
Zhang, Y. (2023). Repressed sexuality: Disguised masculinity in Chinese danmei adapted series. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Hong Kong Baptist University.
Zhanghaoyizhuxiao. (2020, November 18). ?????????????????????? [Chinese people are much more understanding and inclusive of homosexuality than in the past]. [Comment on the video Film trailer: Same-sex love comedy Happiest Season is coming]. Bilibili. https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV12y4y1z7nj/?spm_id_from=333.999.0.0&vd_source=8a2a2c5c46786782e29f12aebeb293c0
Zhao, J. J., & Bao, H. (2024). Queer screens with Chinese characteristics?: Reimagining queer Chinese screen studies in the twenty-first century. Journal of Chinese Cinemas, 17(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508061.2024.2312677
Zhao, J. J., Yang, L., & Lavin, M. (2017). Introduction. In J. J. Zhao, L. Yang, & M. Lavin (Eds.), Boy’s love, cosplay and androgynous idols: Queer fan cultures in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan (pp. xi-xxxiv). University of Hong Kong Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1rfzz65.5
Zhao, J. J., & Wong, A. K. (2020). Introduction: Making a queer turn in contemporary Chinese-language media studies. Continuum, 34(4), 475–483. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2020.1785076
Zheng, W., & Chen, J. (Directors). (2019). The untamed [TV series]. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10554898
Zhou, Y. (Executive Producer). (2018). The guardian [TV series]. Shi Yue Film and Television; Zhe Jiang Sheng Xi Hua Shi; Tai Yang Chuan He Culture and Media; Huan Mi Culture and Communication.
Zhou, Y., & Xie, Y. (Directors). (2018). The guardian [TV series]. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8551028/
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Qijun Song
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 Deed that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. The material cannot be used for commercial purposes.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
