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    "A Community Unlike Any Other": Incorporating Fansubbers into Corporate Capitalism on Viki.com

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    Date
    2018-05
    Author
    Woodhouse, Taylore
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    Abstract
    Viki.com, founded in 2008, is a streaming site that offers Korean (and other East Asian) television programs with subtitles in a variety of languages. Unlike other K-drama distribution sites that serve audiences outside of South Korea, Viki utilizes fan-volunteers, called fansubbers, as laborers to produce its subtitles. Fan subtitling and distribution of foreign language media in the United States is a rich fan practice dating back to the 1980s, and Viki is the first corporate entity that has harnessed the productive power of fansubbers. In this thesis, I investigate how Viki has been able to capture the enthusiasm and productive capacity of fansubbers. Particularly, I examine how Viki has been able to monetize fansubbing in while still staying competitive with sites who employee trained, professional translators. I argue that Viki has succeeded in courting fansubbers as laborers by co-opting the concept of the “fan community.” I focus on how Viki strategically speaks about the community and builds its site to facilitate the functioning of its community so as to encourage fansubbers to view themselves as semi-professional laborers instead of amateur fans. In reframing the role of the fansubbing community, Viki creates a new image for what being a fansubber means and why fansubbing is valuable that emphasizes creating value for Viki over creating value for the fan community.
    Department
    Plan II Honors Program
    Subject
    Plan II Honors Thesis
    Fan studies
    Korean wave
    fan culture
    fandom
    transnational fandom
    global media
    Korean dramas
    translation
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/2152/65312
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    • Plan II Honors Theses - Openly Available

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    © The University of Texas at Austin