3.3.21 Optional question

The questionnaire contained one optional, freeform question with the aim to allow the respondents to provide any additional information related to fanfiction translation they would deem worth mentioning.

Twelve respondents in total chose to use this opportunity to expand on their previous statements, add extra information, ask a question or leave a personal message. Three respondents expressed their doubt about being suitable candidates for this research, for various reasons. Three respondents emphasized how fanfiction changed their life or otherwise expressed their passion for fanfiction translation. One respondent expressed their doubt about the quality and meaningfulness of this research. One respondent expressed interest in the topic of copyright and remarked on various disputable practices in fandom (in relation to copying someone else’s work or not citing important information). One respondent expressed interest in more community translation challenges (referring to Překladatelova rukavice in particular). One respondent expressed certain regret about not having taken fanfiction translation more seriously in the past. One respondent stressed the importance of mastering the target language.

This subchapter will be concluded with a quotation from a response by one of the “veteran” participants, showcasing how fandom and community engagement can enrich the real lives of its members:

“I don't know much about how things work on other sites, but we're still active on our [site] mainly thanks to our regular meet-ups several times a year; we have a group on Skype and we're not just colleagues but really more like kindred [spirits]. We founded the association and can't exist without one another. […] Sometimes people disappear from fandom but I believe it's mostly due to them not having any real-life ties with the other fanfiction community members.”

3.3.22 Limitations of the study and potential areas for further research

The total number of respondents (76) was higher than initially anticipated. The main source of potential limitation was mentioned at the beginning of this chapter and was related to the possible failure to reach some of the older, veteran fandoms (Star Trek, Star Wars or Lord of the Rings from the older era). Even if these older (or any other) fandoms had been better represented, there’s no reason to assume it would alter the results in any significant way, with the possible exception of the gender distribution, and even then probably not too much.

In accordance with the initially stated aim of this thesis to provide a complex, but at the same time broad enough introduction to this small sub-space of the fanfiction community, the freeform questions were formulated in the most generic way so as to solicit a broader range of responses or thoughts, but without follow-up questions, many specific angles or aspects were only briefly and randomly touched upon by some participants, but not fully explored. Areas such as dynamics and nature of the fanfiction translator-author relationship, dynamics and details of the beta reading practices with regard to fanfiction translation, a more detailed inquiry into fan translation as a specific creative outlet (focusing for example on those fanfiction translators who predominantly engage in translating and who do not write their own fanfiction or those who also engage in other forms fan translation activities) could offer sufficient potential for further research, especially in the form of smaller scale, ethnographic studies.