Subtitling Anglophone queer television into Chinese: fansubbing, mediation and queer visibility in the digital era

Yang, Rui (2026) Subtitling Anglophone queer television into Chinese: fansubbing, mediation and queer visibility in the digital era. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis investigates how Anglophone queer television has circulated in China over the past two decades and how these works have been subtitled by Chinese fansubbing groups operating under conditions of censorship, instability, and cultural negotiation. Addressing Research Question 1, the study traces the uneven availability of queer television across licensed platforms, informal networks, and precarious online archives, showing how fansubbing functions as a crucial, if unofficial, mode of queer media access. Through this circulation history, the thesis demonstrates how fansubbers have adapted their practices in response to shifting regulatory pressures, technological change, and the growing sophistication of audience expectations.
Research Question 2 examines how fansubbing strategies shape the representation of queer masculinity, coming out, kinship, and HIV/AIDS, and how translated versions contribute to broader debates on LGBTQ+ visibility and stereotypes in China. Drawing on queer translation theory, audiovisual translation studies, and discourse analysis, the thesis treats subtitles as affective and interpretive acts rather than neutral linguistic transfers. Through close textual and scene-based analysis of four case studies (Queer Eye, Heartstopper, Man in an Orange Shirt and Queer as Folk), the thesis shows that fansubbers work through queering translation as a central mode, drawing on techniques such as softening, euphemism, emotional amplification, stance modulation and contextual reframing. These strategies negotiate cultural values, navigate political constraint and recalibrate affective tone, shaping how queer identities, relationships and experiences become intelligible within Chinese linguistic and moral frameworks.
The findings show that fansubbing operates as an informal cultural infrastructure that sustains transnational queer visibility in the absence of consistent institutional support. By maintaining access to queer media, preserving affective resonance, and rearticulating sensitive themes within local moral frameworks, Chinese subtitles play an active role in shaping how queer stories circulate, survive, and matter within restrictive media environments. The thesis argues that fansubbing should be understood as a practice of queer mediation, which not only translates content but also participates in the cultural politics of recognition, belonging, and community formation in contemporary China.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities
• Supervisor's Name: Evans, Dr. Jonathan, Liang, Dr. Hongling and Dasgupta, Dr. Rohit
• Date of Award: 2026
• Embargo Date: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-85882
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 07 May 2026 15:17
• Last Modified: 07 May 2026 15:17
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85882
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85882