Translation of Traditional Chinese Crafts Culture in the New Media Environment: A Case Study of Subtitle Translation in Li Ziqi's YouTube Short Videos

Abstract

Nowadays, the subjects of external communication are increasingly diversified, and China's new media forms of external communication are rich and varied. In contrast to the authoritative narrative style and tone of official media, short videos have emerged as an important medium for international communication in the new era. With characteristics such as fragmented content, entertainment value, popularity, and colloquial language, they have achieved significant dissemination effects on global social media platforms like YouTube. Therefore, more and more unofficial self-media figures are attempting to share unique Chinese stories and culture through short videos on YouTube, and Li Ziqi is one of them. Li Ziqi has amassed 17.6 million subscribers on YouTube, with a total of 128 videos published and over 2.9 billion views at the time of data collection (2023.07.02). Her short videos showcase her leisurely daily life in natural landscapes, diverse culinary culture, and traditional Chinese crafts culture, among other aspects of traditional culture. At present, Li Ziqi's "Traditional Crafts" series has become one of the important platforms for the external dissemination of Chinese traditional craft culture. This study takes the translation of the subtitles in four short videos from Li Ziqi's "Traditional Crafts" series on the YouTube platform as the research object. From the perspective of the new media environment, it analyzes the external communication of traditional Chinese craft culture in the new era and provides a summary of reflections.