Open peer review. Vol 20 (Special Issue) China and the Digital Turn

Subjectivity of Chinese fansub: Autonomy placed under structural pressures

Xu Minghua; Deng Boyi 

Section: KARPETA

 

Reviewer A:

Please, comment on the most relevant aspects (positive points and areas to improve) of the reviewed article.

The paper selects a very interesting topic Fansub, and studied their subjectivity using netnography. It digs out a lot of valuable material. Furthermore it analyses from the political economy perspective. The findings sheds lights on the digital labor and contribute to the existing theory.

Would you suggest any changes or make any recommendations to improve the quality of the article?

Suggestions for further improvement:

  1. Title: The author may put the most important findings in the title. Right now the title only identifies the research object and approach.
  2. Methodology: the paper needs to supply the number of participants and the operation details about methodology. There should be a part introducing the operation of the data collection.
  3. Language problem: there are many mis-spelling and Chinese English. The language may be polished by a native English speaker. 

 

Reviewer B:

Please, comment on the most relevant aspects (positive points and areas to improve) of the reviewed article.

This paper aims to describe and analyze the latest development of Chinese fansubs. From the view of political economy and technology, this paper attempts to construct a kind of co-moving relationship between the adopted technologies and the subjectivity of Chinese fansubs. This paper obviously adopts the theoretical framework of the political economy of communication from Dallas Smythe to Christian Fuchs. Hence, this paper considers Chinese fansubs and their work as the productive digital labor and also the subjectivity & initiative of online voluntary work. Obviously, this paper widens a path to deeply observe Chinese fansubs and their works basing on two years of online ethnographic research. Some findings are very interesting. For example, this paper creates a five-in-one structure to explain why many Chinese fansubs gradually evolve from pure interest groups to profit-making institutions. Certainly, the article provides a good description of some new trends in this field and the Chinese fansub's struggling by their digital work. It still is suggested to do more works on analyzing the relationship between ownership structure and digital labor for fully revealing the survival situation of Chinese fansub and their cultural rights.

Would you suggest any changes or make any recommendations to improve the quality of the article?

 Suggestions mainly are two parts. First, political economy of communication is clearly a kind of critical view to analyze the communication questions. If this paper adopts this critical framework, it is suggested to add the global digital capitalism framework to explain Chinese fansub's situation. Dan Schiller and Vincent Mosco's study will make the findings and conclusions of this paper more explanatory. Secondly, the details of online/virtual ethnography are suggested to clearly shown in a special part of Methodology in the paper. For example, when and how the team entered the YYeTs? how the authors/team members collected the multi-model materials for supporting the research? It 's strongly requested to explain the steps of the virtual ethnography and how the team obey the ethics of the research.

Reviewer C:

Please, comment on the most relevant aspects (positive points and areas to improve) of the reviewed article.

The article "Subjectivity of Chinese Fansub: Political economy and Technology" captures the Chinese fansub group, a research object rich in technological originality and Chinese characteristics of the times, and focuses on the behavior representation, core and changes of this interest group in the context of China's political, economic, and technological changes since the 21st century. Two highlights are in the article. One of the most significant aspects of research is fieldwork's groundedness. The author collected a wealth of field materials through two years of online ethnographic observation. This is rare in academic circles that want quick success and instant benefits. The materials are very diverse and fresh. By observing the research objects, the author digs deep into the subject matter. From this experience, I gained many valuable insights. The second is that the viewpoints in the article are very profound and novel. This paper proposes a five-in-one framework centered on Chinese subtitle groups. It vividly shows the power position and squeeze of fansub groups from the perspective of communication and political economy. It is a humanistic observation of China's network environment and realpolitik.

Would you suggest any changes or make any recommendations to improve the quality of the article?

In all, the research object of the article is not new, but the perspective of observation and thinking is quite innovative, the literature research is sufficient, the theory application is professional, the field investigation is solid, the thinking is deep, the degree of originality is high, and it can contribute to The English-speaking world opens a useful window to observe China's social changes and niche interest groups.

 

The text included important modifications before publication