Fansubbers. The case of the Czech Republic and Poland

Abstract

The paper presents a comparative analysis of Czech and Polish “fansubbers.” Fansubbers (also referred to as subtitlers) is a general term, which describes people who create subtitles for foreign language movies and TV series for free. The similarities between the Polish and Czech cultures, due to the current geopolitical situation and a shared history of being behind the Iron Curtain after 1945 (despite the obvious differences), led us to investigate whether the profiles of typical fansubbers would be congruent. The premium was put on: a) the socio-economic status of the subtitlers, b) their motivations for doing subtitles, and c) the tools they use during the process. The obtained results indicated that Polish and Czech subtitlers are similar in many respects. Our study showed that the age, economic status, worldview, and distribution of other basic socio-economic characteristics were similar in both populations. Both groups of respondents revealed similar patterns of participation in culture. Both also consisted of tech-savvy members. Yet, there are some differences. The most obvious one lays in motivations. While the Czech respondents have altruistic motivations to create subtitles, their Polish counterparts seem to be more self-centered motivated, indicating that they do it mainly to improve their language skills.

Authors and Affiliations

Kamil Luczaj, Magdalena Holy-Luczaj, Karolina Cwiek-Rogalska

Keywords

Related Articles

Euthanasia and normality in Romania or Being reluctant to a good death

The present paper explores the perspectives of introducing human euthanasia on the Romanian public agenda by using the realm of normality as framework for argumentation. When choosing the topic I was inspired by the gr...

(Hi)story-telling the nation: the narrative construction of Romanianism in the late 19th century

This paper is a study in historical socio-anthropology, focusing on the political process of Romanian nation building and its corresponding anthropological program of creating the national self. Starting from the assum...

Get real: Narrative and gameplay in The Last of Us

This essay addresses problems of ludonarrative dissonance in the 2013 video game The Last of Us. Much of the game’s production is well executed and very realistic, both in terms of graphics and storytelling; however, a...

Money of her own: women’s struggle for emancipation through their dealings with money

Our study explores women’s appropriation of the democratic ideal of equality and autonomy as revealed through their handling of money within a couple-relationship. We based our study on 30 indepth interviews with partne...

Ethnography put to good use: researching the virtually human Boellstorff, Tom. (2008) Coming of Age in Second Life. An Anthropologist Explores Second Life. Princeton University Press

Talk and debate about the Internet and virtual communities seem to be ubiquitous. If not a reflection of trends and fashions in social inquiry, comprising an “online dimension” in research designs equates with keeping...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP41017
  • DOI -
  • Views 223
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Kamil Luczaj, Magdalena Holy-Luczaj, Karolina Cwiek-Rogalska (2014). Fansubbers. The case of the Czech Republic and Poland. Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology, 5(2), -. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-41017