I've definitely noticed that non English-language fandoms seem to be mostly anime/manga + HP + one or two insanely popular things like Twilight or SPN. I'd love it if translation were a bigger part of English-language fandom, actually, since it's one of my favorite hobbies, but there's so little incentive for me as a native English speaker, and particularly as a native English speaker who likes obscure fandoms, to participate in other language fandoms that I've basically never read fic I thought was worth translating. (Not that there isn't any. I'm sure there's plenty. I just haven't read widely enough to have encountered it.) Maybe if I were really fluent in something other than English...
I suspect most English speaking fans who are interested in translation end up translating manga or something. (That's fun too, but I don't really like scanlations. Despite the claims of people who make them, they always seem like direct competition with the official rights holder to me, unlike fanfic or translations of fanfic.)
The only time I'm ever really tempted to use my crappy foreign language skills in a fannish way is when I encounter the rare (very, very rare!) canon that's actually popular but not with English speakers. I buy a lot of obscure old manga, but I doubt most of it has an active fandom in Japanese, and the only thing I can even think of in Spanish that might qualify is Alatriste. (Why the heck hasn't it been properly released in the US?!)
Even then, I find that many non-English language fandoms feel quite insular to me (particularly the Japanese fandoms I've encountered). It's partly that I'm often just not very familiar with how they operate (being of a very LJ-centric mindset myself) and partly that I'm used to English language fandom, which tends to be overtly welcoming to everyone (and, of course, covertly quite unwelcoming in a vast array of ways having to do with hegemonic culture and cluelessness). And, well, it's also that other people rarely organize their fannish activities around providing me with free language lessons. (Whyever not? Don't they realize everything is about ME?! ;-D)
I've also noticed that, when it comes to slash specifically (since that's what I read most), different cultural expectations about gender and sexual identity tend to lead to rather incompatible interpretations of characters and relationships. It happens in English-language fic too, but the weepy uke thing has been particularly pronounced in Japanese fic I've read. (And since it's something I detest...)
I'm interested in what you say about the Draco Trilogy. Do you mean that it was better in translation? Or is it just that you liked it back then and have since changed your mind?
no subject
I suspect most English speaking fans who are interested in translation end up translating manga or something. (That's fun too, but I don't really like scanlations. Despite the claims of people who make them, they always seem like direct competition with the official rights holder to me, unlike fanfic or translations of fanfic.)
The only time I'm ever really tempted to use my crappy foreign language skills in a fannish way is when I encounter the rare (very, very rare!) canon that's actually popular but not with English speakers. I buy a lot of obscure old manga, but I doubt most of it has an active fandom in Japanese, and the only thing I can even think of in Spanish that might qualify is Alatriste. (Why the heck hasn't it been properly released in the US?!)
Even then, I find that many non-English language fandoms feel quite insular to me (particularly the Japanese fandoms I've encountered). It's partly that I'm often just not very familiar with how they operate (being of a very LJ-centric mindset myself) and partly that I'm used to English language fandom, which tends to be overtly welcoming to everyone (and, of course, covertly quite unwelcoming in a vast array of ways having to do with hegemonic culture and cluelessness). And, well, it's also that other people rarely organize their fannish activities around providing me with free language lessons. (Whyever not? Don't they realize everything is about ME?! ;-D)
I've also noticed that, when it comes to slash specifically (since that's what I read most), different cultural expectations about gender and sexual identity tend to lead to rather incompatible interpretations of characters and relationships. It happens in English-language fic too, but the weepy uke thing has been particularly pronounced in Japanese fic I've read. (And since it's something I detest...)
I'm interested in what you say about the Draco Trilogy. Do you mean that it was better in translation? Or is it just that you liked it back then and have since changed your mind?