Case Study: Fansubbing
Anime fansubbing as precarious work will provide as a point of similarity and comparison for the other two cases. As anime has gained increased global popularity, foreign fandoms have become a market for anime, with it being dispersed to them via both traditional means of broadcasting and distribution as well as through fan-made channels. One such fan-made channel is called “fansubbing,” a term derived from the subcultural practice of fan subtitling.
Since the 1960s, anime has enjoyed the benefit of steadily increasing global availability, due in part to better forms of distribution, namely the internet (González 263, 265). However, with the introduction of foreign media into the West, there was a need to cross the language barrier, which were initially done through dubbing. Dubbing would provide a glocalization of anime in the West, and this "made it possible to 'alter the stories and characters to suit the perception of the tastes of American children and their parents'" (González 263). However, the changes that the text underwent were noticed by fans who compared the originals imported directly from Japan, for example, and the localized versions.
Soon, a growing audience desiring a more authentic experience with the original texts led to the emergence of fansubbing groups. Fansubbers, considered amateurs by the traditional media, would obtain in its original text, via VHS in the early days and internet today, and translate the content. Furthermore, with the rise of the internet, the distribution of fansubbed anime has reached even wider audiences. However, the increase in popularity is not necessarily thanks to the existence of the technology, nor the anime industry, but rather the fans, who dedicated themselves to producing and circulating this new form of anime transformed by the loving labor of a global network of fans.
However, by voluntarily contributing to the anime fandom, the fansubbers are unwittingly being treated as precarious workers. In the case of anime, the neoliberal conglomerate that is using and benefiting from the labor of these globalized fans is the professional anime industry. Especially in the earlier days of imported anime during the 70s, the market for non-mainstream anime in the West was very niche, and from the perspective of the anime industry, the waters were untested. However, with foreign fans subtitling the series, the anime was dispersed with no effort from the production and licensing companies. The name and popularity of a series was spread to a new audience through underground networks, and new potential markets were slowly coming into mainstream view thanks to the dedicated fansubbers. This newly created recognition of the series would eventually translate to economic profitability for the industry. Essentially, the grounds for globalized profitability of the anime series was tested at practically no cost to the industry, and the data on the potential profit was given out freely to them. In fact, even the fansubbers recognize that "the [fansubbing] practice is... an act of evangelism in the service of expansion of commercial markets for anime" (Ito 182).
Now that the neoliberal approach of profit has been shown in the relationship between the anime industry and fansubbing, it remains to show the precarious nature of the fans' works. In Ito's interview of Zalas, the latter describes how fansub groups are constantly dying, while new ones pop up to replace them. In fact, there are only a handful of groups who have been alive for five years or longer (Ito 189). This means that fansub group members are the ones who are at risk of falling out from the group and having to look for a new job in a different fansub group as groups die. Hence, the competition and risk resides all in the part of the fansubbers, since as aforementioned, the anime industry has no part in the fansubbing.
Finally, it is important to realize that fansubbing is most often done without any financial compensation. However, the motivation behind these fansubbers is not one that resides in the first and second space. This is summarized clearly in Mizuki Ito's study of fansubbing, where "all of [the queried fansubbers] cited some desire to 'contribute' to the fandom" as reasons for fansubbing (Ito 191). While this is obviously not the only motivation for fans to participate in fansubbing, the reasons "cluster roughly around ideals about contributing to a collective vision or resource, learning and self-actualization, and status and social belonging" (Ito 190-191). These reasons coincide with the payoffs in the third and fourth space described in the previous node of the path. Hence, while fansubbers may seem to be volunteers who have nothing to lose by precarious labor, the truth is that their profit in the third and fourth space is at risk due to the precarious nature of their work.
References
González, Luis Pérez. "Fansubbing Anime: Insights Into The ‘Butterfly Effect’ Of Globalisation On Audiovisual Translation." Perspectives 14.4 (2007): 260-77. Web.
Ito, Mizuko, Daisuke Okabe, and Izumi Tsuji. Fandom Unbound: Otaku Culture in a Connected World. New Haven: Yale UP, 2012. Print.
Since the 1960s, anime has enjoyed the benefit of steadily increasing global availability, due in part to better forms of distribution, namely the internet (González 263, 265). However, with the introduction of foreign media into the West, there was a need to cross the language barrier, which were initially done through dubbing. Dubbing would provide a glocalization of anime in the West, and this "made it possible to 'alter the stories and characters to suit the perception of the tastes of American children and their parents'" (González 263). However, the changes that the text underwent were noticed by fans who compared the originals imported directly from Japan, for example, and the localized versions.
Soon, a growing audience desiring a more authentic experience with the original texts led to the emergence of fansubbing groups. Fansubbers, considered amateurs by the traditional media, would obtain in its original text, via VHS in the early days and internet today, and translate the content. Furthermore, with the rise of the internet, the distribution of fansubbed anime has reached even wider audiences. However, the increase in popularity is not necessarily thanks to the existence of the technology, nor the anime industry, but rather the fans, who dedicated themselves to producing and circulating this new form of anime transformed by the loving labor of a global network of fans.
However, by voluntarily contributing to the anime fandom, the fansubbers are unwittingly being treated as precarious workers. In the case of anime, the neoliberal conglomerate that is using and benefiting from the labor of these globalized fans is the professional anime industry. Especially in the earlier days of imported anime during the 70s, the market for non-mainstream anime in the West was very niche, and from the perspective of the anime industry, the waters were untested. However, with foreign fans subtitling the series, the anime was dispersed with no effort from the production and licensing companies. The name and popularity of a series was spread to a new audience through underground networks, and new potential markets were slowly coming into mainstream view thanks to the dedicated fansubbers. This newly created recognition of the series would eventually translate to economic profitability for the industry. Essentially, the grounds for globalized profitability of the anime series was tested at practically no cost to the industry, and the data on the potential profit was given out freely to them. In fact, even the fansubbers recognize that "the [fansubbing] practice is... an act of evangelism in the service of expansion of commercial markets for anime" (Ito 182).
Now that the neoliberal approach of profit has been shown in the relationship between the anime industry and fansubbing, it remains to show the precarious nature of the fans' works. In Ito's interview of Zalas, the latter describes how fansub groups are constantly dying, while new ones pop up to replace them. In fact, there are only a handful of groups who have been alive for five years or longer (Ito 189). This means that fansub group members are the ones who are at risk of falling out from the group and having to look for a new job in a different fansub group as groups die. Hence, the competition and risk resides all in the part of the fansubbers, since as aforementioned, the anime industry has no part in the fansubbing.
Finally, it is important to realize that fansubbing is most often done without any financial compensation. However, the motivation behind these fansubbers is not one that resides in the first and second space. This is summarized clearly in Mizuki Ito's study of fansubbing, where "all of [the queried fansubbers] cited some desire to 'contribute' to the fandom" as reasons for fansubbing (Ito 191). While this is obviously not the only motivation for fans to participate in fansubbing, the reasons "cluster roughly around ideals about contributing to a collective vision or resource, learning and self-actualization, and status and social belonging" (Ito 190-191). These reasons coincide with the payoffs in the third and fourth space described in the previous node of the path. Hence, while fansubbers may seem to be volunteers who have nothing to lose by precarious labor, the truth is that their profit in the third and fourth space is at risk due to the precarious nature of their work.
References
González, Luis Pérez. "Fansubbing Anime: Insights Into The ‘Butterfly Effect’ Of Globalisation On Audiovisual Translation." Perspectives 14.4 (2007): 260-77. Web.
Ito, Mizuko, Daisuke Okabe, and Izumi Tsuji. Fandom Unbound: Otaku Culture in a Connected World. New Haven: Yale UP, 2012. Print.
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