A socio-biographical investigation on trajectory and primary habitus of Chinese digitally-born fan translators

The dynamic and participatory nature of the Internet has led researchers to examine the role of fast-growing digitally-based fan translation communities. Studies on fan translation are on the rise, but there has been little research on why fan translators inherently engage in translation activity or what social variables drive their participation. The dynamics of translation formation and the power dynamics that emerge at each level of the translation process are thought to be significantly influenced by prior socialisation experiences and historical constructs of translators. Thus, a diachronic investigation of the activity and motivations of fan translators in a specific social setting merits scholarly attention. Adopting Pierre-Bourdieu’s analytical concept of primary habitus, this article sets out to examine whether the motivations of fan translators’ participation in rendering foreign audiovisual materials are related to their early-formed dispositions. By collecting demographic and socio-biographical information through online questionnaires completed by 59 participants, as well as conducting semi-structured interviews with 21 participants, this study indicates that fan translators’ early dispositions, which are shaped by multicultural family upbringings and bilingual school education, contribute to the development of a digitalised and westernised primary habitus. This primary habitus is correlated with their future participation in online fansubbing communities.