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How Much Does a Subtitle Say?: A Critical Reception Study of Chinese Television Dramas Streamed Overseas

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Streaming and Screen Culture in Asia-Pacific

Abstract

This chapter takes a holistic approach to the study of global reception of Chinese TV dramas. While regional markets in Southeast Asia used to contribute mostly to the favourable reception of Chinese TV dramas, recent years have seen an increasing number of Chinese TV dramas being hailed by global reviewers. When a cultural product is transmitted across national borders, it is often perceived that translation plays a dominant part to influence its reception in foreign countries. This rationale has brought numerous audio-visual translation studies to the fore when it comes to the reception of Chinese TV dramas. However, as viewer rating is considered a comprehensive parameter to indicate the reception of a TV drama and determine the commercial operation behind, the study conducts a statistical analysis to investigate the multilingual viewer reviews alongside the textual analysis to examine the subtitled English scripts (multilingual subtitles derive from the English version) to see if there is a positive correlation between subtitle quality and viewer rating and to find out how other factors in the reviews influence the reception of Chinese TV dramas overseas. The data focus on two genres of the Chinese TV series, modern drama and costume drama, popular both in China and abroad. Both the subtitled scripts and review data are sourced from Rakuten VIKI, a well-known global video streaming platform providing both a premier community for viewers to post their viewing experience in multiple languages and a transparent avenue for subtitlers to engage with their translation. The textual and statistical findings indicate a very limited influence of subtitle quality on viewers despite its mediocre quality. A plethora of other factors contribute to the complex topic of global reception of Chinese TV dramas with varying weightings and degrees.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Jingjing Li

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  1. Jingjing Li
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Correspondence to Jingjing Li .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Film and Television, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Michael Samuel

  2. Centre for World Cinemas and Digital Cultures, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Louisa Mitchell

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Li, J. (2022). How Much Does a Subtitle Say?: A Critical Reception Study of Chinese Television Dramas Streamed Overseas. In: Samuel, M., Mitchell, L. (eds) Streaming and Screen Culture in Asia-Pacific. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09374-6_11

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