In their own words: A mixed-methods analysis of Iranian fansubbers’ motivations and perceptions

Due to Iran’s strict censorship regulations, fansubbing has allowed Iranians to bypass these restrictions and access a wider range of media. Grounded in the theoretical framework of cybersubtitling and non-professional translation, my paper situates fansubbing as a distinct socio-cultural practice driven by intrinsic, non-commercial motivations that operate in parallel to the state-sanctioned industry. Although the reception has received attention, it is unclear empirically why Iranian fansubbers produce subtitles and what their comments and perceptions are. Therefore, my mixed-methods study identifies the main categories of motivations, reasons, and perceptions for doing such activity among them. The results indicated that there was a strong focus on providing free fansubs to users, and the reasons included religious beliefs, altruism, and opposition to charges for translation. The results also revealed that participants believe the perceived low quality of current professional subtitling and dubbing in Iran can be attributed to a lack of respect and recognition for the translators. Additionally, fansubbers felt that the translators selected for professional translations were not solely evaluated based on their qualifications, leading to the new phenomenon of professional subtitlers plagiarizing from fansubs. This highlights a paradox where the “amateur” field of cybersubtitling upholds quality standards often neglected by the professional sector.