Fansubbers. The case of the Czech Republic and Poland
Fansubbers. The case of the Czech Republic and Poland

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents a comparative analysis of Czech and Polish “fansubbers.” Fansubbers (also referred to as subtitlers) is a general term, which describes people who create subtitles for foreign language movies and TV series for free. The similarities between the Polish and Czech cultures, due to the current geopolitical situation and a shared history of being behind the Iron Curtain after 1945 (despite the obvious differences), led us to investigate whether the profiles of typical fansubbers would be congruent. The premium was put on: a) the socio-economic status of the subtitlers, b) their motivations for doing subtitles, and c) the tools they use during the process. The obtained results indicated that Polish and Czech subtitlers are similar in many respects. Our study showed that the age, economic status, worldview, and distribution of other basic socio-economic characteristics were similar in both populations. Both groups of respondents revealed similar patterns of participation in culture. Both also consisted of tech-savvy members. Yet, there are some differences. The most obvious one lays in motivations. While the Czech respondents have altruistic motivations to create subtitles, their Polish counterparts seem to be more self-centered motivated, indicating that they do it mainly to improve their language skills.

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