Institutional Fansubbing: A Case Study of the Fansubbing Initiative ‘Autrjim’
On February 28, 2018, a seminar organized by the Language Research Center featured a presentation by Mr. Bandar Altalidi, entitled "Institutional Fansubbing: A Case Study of the Fansubbing Initiative 'Autrjim'." The presentation was primarily based on his MA research project, providing valuable insights into the strategies and decisions of volunteer translators within the 'Autrjim' initiative.
Altalidi opened his presentation by laying out the objectives of his research. These included exploring the strategies implemented by volunteer translators, studying the methods used by fansubbers to achieve their own goals, and investigating the technical aspects of audiovisual translation as well as the fansubbers' approach to it. Another key aim was to examine the influence of the procedural and technical considerations adopted by Autrjim on its subtitling aims.
Highlighting his literature review, Altalidi underscored the fact that audiovisual translation had come into its own as a distinct field of study, becoming a standard term in university programs, research, and scholarly publications.
He further noted, referencing Pérez-González's 2007 work, that the research fields of fansubbing and amateur translation had been somewhat overlooked. This observation, in particular, had inspired his research into fansubbing. He concluded his presentation by defining 'autrjim' and explaining how this group of fans contributed to video subtitling, based on his research findings.
The presentation was highly informative and successfully engaged the participants, shedding light on a niche, yet increasingly relevant area of language translation studies.
