AUTHOR=Zeng Duo 

TITLE=Danmu subtitling as a self-regulative practice: a descriptive discourse analysis of Bilibili danmu subtitles from ethical perspectives

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1577260

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1577260

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Translation ethics is an important aspect of Translation Studies that has gained increasing attention in recent years. From an ethical perspective, this study investigates the onscreen commenting system: danmu subtitling, an emergent non-professional and collaborative translation practice popular in Asian communities. Adopting, modifying and expanding Andrew Chesterman’s models of translation ethics, i.e., representation ethics, service ethics, communication ethics, norm-based ethics and ethics of professional commitment and proposing an ethics of digital technology, this study delves into how ethical principles explain the user-generated danmu subtitles. Descriptive discourse analysis is performed in this study observing an episode of Tamara’s World (uploaded with no subtitles or translations), an English variety show, examining 296 translation-related instances among 1,490 danmu comments. Findings indicate that multiple ethical models elucidate danmu subtitling practices, which encounter distinct ethical conflicts. Consequently, adaptive regulation is proposed to resolve these conflicts.