COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE IN ACTION A CASE STUDY OF AN ITALIAN

FANSUBBING COMMUNITY

Università degli Studi di Salerno, Salerno, Italy

Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Sociali e della Comunicazione

Felice Addeo

Assistant Professor - Researcher

Università degli Studi di Salerno, Salerno, Italy,

faddeo@unisa.it

Maria Esposito

PhD Student

Università degli Studi di Salerno, Salerno, Italy, maria.esposito86@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION

According to the Convergence Culture paradigm (Jenkins, 2006), nowadays participatory cultures are spreading. They are voluntary and temporary forms of aggregation, based on knowledge exchange and collaborative problem solving between people.

They are the result of the dynamics of collective intelligence: a shared intelligence that arises from the cooperation between many people (Levy, 1996)

Contemporary Television Series are prime example of participatory and collective dynamics, as they are a type of audiovisual product which tries to establish a direct and strict connection between the product and its audience (Innocenti, Maestri, 2010).

INTRODUCTION

In the American television, especially from Nineties, a lot of TV-series became real objects of worship for fans: for this reason, in Media Studies they are referred as cult-series (Hills, 2002).

Cult series encourage the foundation of fan Communities, whose members, like textual performers (Lancaster, 2001), are engaged in producing media materials connected to the source text.

A paradigmatic example of this engagement is represented by Fansubbing, the practice of translating and subtitling foreign media products - mostly television series - performed by fans.

FANSUBBING

In many European Countries the diffusion of Fansubbing led to the development of online Communities, specialized in translating and subtitling American Television Series.

Fansubbers’ work is directed to all people who want to enjoy the product in its original language: the goal of this practice, in fact, is to avoid the cross cultural contaminations and the adaption choices which often occur with the official dubbing.

Thanks to fansubbers’ effort, the series in their original version become available to everybody, also to people who do not understand (or have many difficulties) with the source language.

METHODOLOGY

The purpose of the research is to analyze the relational dynamics and the organizational practices of the Italian Fansubbing Communities.

The research adopts a Case Study Methodology, which is an ideal approach when a holistic analysis is required (Feagin, Orum, Sjoberg, 1991).

Our methodology relied on a Mixed Method approach, that is combining qualitative and quantitative techniques in data collection and analysis.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Purpose of the research Analyze the relational dynamics and the organizational practices of the Italian Fansubbing Communities.

Approach Explorative Case Study

Case ItalianSubsAddicted (Itasa)

Data collection and analysis techniques

Analysis of official documents produced by Community; Press review of articles and videos about the Community; Netnography for the analysis of the Community forum; In-depth interviews to 15 Itasa members

Sampling Snowball sampling

Fansubbing

The Community

Internal Organization

Creative processes

The Fansubbers

Motivations Professionalization

We used a concept map to identify the main research dimensions:

RESEARCH DESIGN

THE COMMUNITY

Itasa is the most important Italian Community

From 140 users in 2005 to more than 300.000 users today

Itasa mission is to produce accurate subtitles, as much as close to the original version, avoiding the adaptation choices which often occur with the official dubbing

Over the time, Itasa improved the quality of its production

The Community has achieved awareness among official media, establishing partnerships with many broadcasting channels

ORGANIZATION CHART

Admin

Senior

Publisher

Translator

User

Translator on probation

Revisor on probation

Itasa is based on a well-defined

organization chart, where each individual is allocated with specific tasks, roles, responsibilities

There is recruiting process for new subbers: a person who wants to become a translator has to pass a linguistic skills test, aimed at evaluating both Italian and English

All the progressions are based on a merit system, rewarding the translation quality and the regular contribution to the Community activities (cf. Barra, Guarnaccia, 2008)

Another important Itasa key success is the strong Community identity, based on a deep-seated sense of belonging and on the practice of value sharing

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Fansub Revisor

Translator

Translator

Translator

Translator

Resyncher Imagineer

Blogger Moderator

The high quality of translations is guaranteed by the development of a creation process where every subtitle, before being published, is rigorously checked (cf. Barra and Guarnaccia, 2008)

Subtitles production is based on a complex human resources management process: each Revisor organizes a team, selecting its members Each team has the responsibility to translate and subtitle a TV-series for an entire season. The Revisor’ s role is fundamental: he corrects, manages, organizes and uniforms his team work Itasa has developed many activities alongside the translation process, considering specific tasks for the website design and the multichannel communications management

“Revisors can be Publishers or Senior. A Revisor translates, organizes his team work, verifies the final product and uploads the subtitles on the website.” (Piwie1, Publisher).

[

THE CREATIVE PROCESS Collaborative problem solving

permeates the entire creative process: even if each subber has a specific part of episode to translate, every problem, hesitation, difficulty during the translation process is discussed with other members and all the subbers cooperate to find shared solutions

Collaborative problem solving is supported by the Community structure itself: Itasa is organized so that the communication flows follow, with the same fluency and speed, both horizontal and vertical directions

Solution

Senior

Translator

Translator

Publisher

“A Translator is never alone. There is always someone he can count on. Collaborative problem solving permeates the Community organization. A Translator can share his doubts with other translators o with the Revisors. If a subber has some problems during the translation, there is always someone ready to help him” (Potomac, Publisher)

Passion

Improving English

Being appreciated by other

Being part of a group

“If you like a series, you could spend hours on end, even just talking with people who share the same passion. You never get tired of it. Comedies, for example, are full of references to books, movies or other series. I would be ready to spend a lot of time to read up about them” (Arissia, ex Translator)

“Itasa experience has been very useful for my work…but also for my life. It is like, you know, going in Erasmus. You learn the language, but you also become an expert of the country culture” (Arissia, ex Translator, now Imagineer)

MOTIVATIONS

“Why do I translate? Because I enjoy myself with other members, but also because I get a great satisfaction, especially when the series is very famous. Receiving compliments, obtaining other people thankfulness…it is great” (Uffanna, Translator)

“Well…Itasa is not just a Community… it is much more… some of us are friends in the real life, we often go out together, we keep in touch. Moreover, we all meet during the Community meeting. There is a friendly atmosphere that transcends the tv- series. Itasa is a real surprise for me” (Kaoss, Publisher)

SKILLS

Linguistic skills

Technical skills

Interpersonal skills

“I attend an international doctorate where it is necessary to speak English. Itasa experience has revolutionized my language knowledge [..] I learn spoken English, the common language, English I use every day for my work “ (Uffanna, Translator)

“The pictures I make for the Community have to be high quality. For this reason, during the years, I have learnt to use Photoshop and others graphics programs very well. I’ve done my best [..] I’ve done everything as ‘autodidact’, observing other expert people and trying to figure out all their secrets” (BabyJenks, Imagineer and Moderator)

“Our activities are a paradigmatic example of collaborative problem solving: when one of us has doubts, problems, he can ask the community for help. Everyone expresses an opinion and the initial idea is gradually smooth and refined. The inside jokes are a good example of thinking out of the box [..] To be a Revisor, it is indispensable to have charisma. You have to manage a team, you must have organization and coordination abilities. When I started being a subber, I didn’t have any job experience. Thanks to Itasa, I have understood what ‘taking on your own responsibilities’ really means“ (Potomac, Publisher)

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the voluntary nature of this phenomenon, Fansubbing can be considered an effective field of professionalization, that gives to people the possibility of experimenting business organizational forms and acquiring specific skills

Adding the Community experience to the curriculum vitae favorably impresses human resource managers: working for the Community without financial rewards is interpreted as synonymous of determination, motivation and civic engagement.

Fansubbing gives to people, totally different for personal and social features, the possibility to interact, share opinions and confront each other. Passion for TV-series works as trait d’union which overcomes every geographic, social and cultural barrier.

“There are no differences between North and South. You can live this type of experience wherever you are. There aren’t barriers or discriminations. You get in touch with a totally different reality. Every day you meet a lot of people, completely different from you. Some of us are students, doctors, lawyers, or teachers: we live different lives and we can have different opinions...but when we interact, we respect each other, we try to understand others point of view. Fansubbing make you richer, make you grown up” (Arissia, Imagineer)