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## Fan translations of SKAM : Challenging Anglo linguistic and popular cultural hegemony in a transnational fandom

Jennifer Duggan Department of Language and Literature and Department of Teacher Education, Faculty of Humanities and Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Department of Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities,

Anne Dahl Norwegian University of Science and Technology

## Abstract

Th e transnational success of the Norwegian multimedia series SKAM is unique in the Scandinavian context and a prime example of how fans' translation, communication, and dissemination practices can lead to a series' international success. In this study, we argue that fan translation of SKAM emphasizes the value of bi-/multilinguality by positioning Norwegian as a resource within a transnational online community, while simultaneously masking the ways in which translation into English normalizes English as  the  global  language of communication and contributes to the Anglo-American dominance of online global media fandom. Nonetheless, fans' use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) positions it as a democratic resource, challenging native-speaker hegemony  (cf.  House  2013;  Widdowson  1994),  and  fans'  online  translation  and dissemination of non-Anglo media into English are practices which subvert the very dominance they actualize, challenging the privileged status of English by carving out space for non-Anglo linguistic expertise and positioning linguistic knowledge and the multicompetent language user as valuable (cf. Cook 1991; Cook 1992). Th is also creates a digital space for valuing non-Anglo popular cultural objects, languages, and cultures.

Keywords: English as a lingua franca, fandom, fan identity, multicompetence, SKAM, translation

## 1. Introduction

While  the  extent  of  the  Anglo-American  role  in  creating  and  globally disseminating  popular  culture  remains  contentious,  scholars  agree  that English-language  popular  culture  'is  a  powerful  global  economic  force' (Williams  2012:20)  -  as  well  as  a  powerful  linguistic  one  (Crystal  2012). Because global popular culture has been heavily Anglo-American infl  uenced, media  fan  studies  predominantly  focus  on  English-language  media  and English-using  fans  (Chin  &  Morimoto  2013,  Chin,  Punathambekar,  & Shresthova 2018, Coppa 2006, Gray, Sandvoss, & Harrington 2007, Harrington &  Beilby  2007,  Hellekson  &  Busse  2006,  Jenkins  &  Scott  2013).  However, new media technologies  have  increased  the  fl  ow  of  popular  culture  across borders, 'bringing languages, cultures, and texts into contact as never before' (Williams 2012:18). Fans' language use and non-Anglo fandoms have thus been described as key areas of future study (e.g. Click, Gray, Mittell, & Scott 2018).

A  number  of  Scandinavian  series  have  enjoyed  international  success in the early twenty-fi  rst century, due in large part to the increasingly diverse ways in which digital media are shared transnationally (e.g. Chin & Morimoto 2013,  Jenkins,  Ford,  &  Green  2013,  Morimoto  2018,  Williams  2012).  One example is the Norwegian teen series SKAM . Th e series was never intended for international distribution, yet it gained a global following. Since it was never offi cially subtitled or otherwise made available in English or other languages, its international success was only possible due to fans' translating and sharing of the series.

Fan translation practices in this context highlight a number of concerns central  to  fan  studies  today,  including  questions  of  how  social  relations and power structures are enacted in a (supposedly) deterritorialized online world, tensions between the global and the local, and how cultural objects can  become  the  focal  point  for  transcultural  expressions  of  identity  (Chin &  Morimoto  2013,  Gray,  Sandvoss,  &  Harrington  2007,  Williams  2012). Moreover, it demonstrates how fans' use of English contradictorily results in 'increased … community diversity … and increased linguistic and cultural nationalism'  (Pennycook  2003:521).  Despite  this,  little  attention  has  been paid  to  fans'  metadiscourses  regarding  translation  and  the  tensions  it  may cause between local and transnational fans and between competing language ideologies. Additionally, while some scholars have briefl  y commented on the contradictions inherent in a transnational, English-language fandom centered on a non-English-language series, none have based their comments on a case study. Th is study aims to fi  ll this gap.

Th e  contradictions  which  we  identify  highlight  issues  of  language ideology  (e.g.  Woolard  &  Schieff  elin  1994),  in  particular  regarding  three aspects of users' beliefs about language: the ideal of the native speaker; the perceived high prestige of English at the cost of other, local languages; and local (national) language protectionism. We discuss fans' meta-discussion of language,  transnationality,  and  translation  by  presenting  an  analysis  of  the comments on the offi cial website for season three of SKAM - a season in which the series experienced an exponential increase in international popularity. We consider how the comments relate to the concerns of fan studies as well as those of the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF).

By positioning Norwegian as a resource within a transnational online community  and  simultaneously  masking  the  ways  in  which  translation into  English  normalizes fans' use of ELF, fan translations contribute to the dominance  of  English  on  the  Internet.  However,  fans'  online  translation and  dissemination  of  non-Anglo  media  into  English  also  subvert  the  very dominance they actualize by positioning the multicompetent language user as invaluable (Black 2009, Cook 1991, 1992). Fans' use of ELF challenges the privileged position of the native English speaker (House 2013, Widdowson 1994) and at the same time suggests that languages other than English are valuable  resources  available  to  only  a  privileged  few.  Many  fans  appear  to appreciate  the  opportunity  to  share SKAM transnationally  that  translation into English aff  ords, yet, as our analysis will show, some fans seem to consider translation into English to betray the Norwegian fan community, revealing diff  erences in fans' linguistic and cultural ideologies.

## 2. Background 2.1. SKAM

SKAM was fi  rst released on a series-specifi  c website by the Norwegian national broadcaster NRK in September 2015. Its format was innovative: Individual clips of a few minutes, appearing to take place in real-time and in modern-day Oslo, and the main characters' social media interaction, such as Instagram posts,  were  published  on  the  website.  At  the  end  of  the  week,  clips  were gathered together and shown as one cohesive episode. 1 In total, four seasons were produced, each with a diff  erent main character.

Th e series became a phenomenon with a large fan base, fi  rst in Norway and  then  internationally.  During  season  three,  international  fans'  requests for  offi cial  translations  and  views  from  outside  of  Norway  on  the SKAM website increased rapidly. Both were a problem for the series, as copyrights for the music used had been obtained for a national audience only. For this reason, offi cial subtitles in English were never provided, and eventually, nonScandinavian IP addresses were blocked from accessing the site.

In reaction, fans provided translations in the comments section on the offi cial site, as well as subtitling and sharing episodes for their non-Norwegianspeaking peers elsewhere. Th e international fandom became large and loyal enough to ensure the victory of SKAM ' s season three couple, Isak and Even, as  TV's  Top Couple 2017 in E!Online's March 2017 poll (Bricker 2017), in competition with couples from internationally distributed American shows. Moreover, since the end of the Norwegian series in June 2017, the show has been remade in France ( Skam France ), Italy ( Skam Italy ), Germany ( Druck ), the US ( Skam Austin ), the Netherlands ( Skam NL ), Spain ( Skam España ), and most recently, in Belgium ( wtFOCK ). Th e success of the original series and development of international versions highlights the role of the fan translator in this particular fandom as especially noteworthy. Th e  series  could not be offi cially  translated  due  to  music-license  restrictions,  yet  translation  from Norwegian was necessary for SKAM to reach a global audience, as Norwegian is  not  widely  spoken  globally.  Despite  the  prestige  that  English  enjoys internationally, not least in youth culture, in the sharing of the series, it can be argued that knowledge of Norwegian was a scarce and sought-aft  er resource, while competence in English was seen as given.

1 For an overview of SKAM ' s innovations in serial narratological structure, see Andersen & Linkis 2019.

## 2.2. Transnational media fandoms

Th e term 'fandom' describes active on- and offl ine fan communities (Coppa 2006,  Hellekson  &  Busse  2006,  Hills  2002a,  Jenkins  1992/2013).  Th ese communities  have  been  described  as  both  collaborative  and  participatory (Jenkins  1992/2013),  yet  at  times  also  'competitive,  argumentative,  and factional' (Hills 2002a:1). Fan cultures have therefore been theorized to be communities in which there is a tension between democratic equality and social hierarchy (e.g. Hills 2002a, Jenkins & Carpentier 2013). In these communities, there also exists a tension between consumerism - with the fans' continued, deep focus on the object of fannish aff  ection - and resistance to capitalistic structures - through fans' sharing of media, volunteerism, and widespread use of 'gift   economics' (Hills 2002a:27-45, see also Jenkins, Ford, & Green 2013). Th ere is therefore a constant tension between top-down corporate structures of power and bottom-cup consumer-driven pressures (Hills 2002a, Jenkins, Ford, & Green 2013).

Because the study of media fans developed alongside the late twentiethcentury feminist turn and positioned itself against studies characterizing fans as  deviant  (e.g.  Coppa  2006,  Hellekson  &  Busse  2006,  Hills  2002a,  Jenkins 1992/2013), fan studies  scholars  emphasize  refl  exive  practice,  alliance  with the  research  subject(s),  mixed-methods  approaches,  and  foregrounding researchers' situatedness (e.g. Geertz 1973, Harding 1995, Haraway 1985/2006, Hellekson & Busse 2006, Hills 2002a, Jenkins 1992/2013). As such, fan studies has traditionally prioritized refl  exive (auto)ethnographic and cultural studies perspectives  rather  than  quantitative,  empirical  scholarship.  Fan  studies has also, productively but at times problematically, privileged introspection and  refl  ection,  and  thus  the  voices  and  experiences  of  academics  who  are themselves fans, which in the early stages of fan studies resulted in what Hills (2002a:15) calls 'a rather dismaying short-sightedness. '

One aspect of this 'short-sightedness' particularly relevant to the present paper is the almost exclusive focus on Anglo-American experiences of fandom and English-language media, as well as on the academic-fan experience (e.g. Chin & Morimoto 2013, Coppa 2006, Harrington & Beilby 2007, Hellekson

& Busse  2006,  Hills  2002b,  Jenkins  1992/2013).  Th is  is  because  media  fan studies predominantly developed as a fi  eld in in the United States and because many fan scholars are monolingual English speakers (Chin, Punathambekar, &  Shresthova  2018,  Click,  Gray,  Mittell,  &  Scott  2018).  Y et  online  media fandom  is  an  increasingly  transcultural  space  in  which  'sustained  crossborder relationships, patterns of exchange, affi liations, and social formations' (Vertovec 2009:2) are constantly developing and shift  ing. Not only do fans in diff  erent  locations  interact  online  but  the  objects  circulating  originate  in  various places and cultures (Chin & Morimoto 2013, Morimoto 2018, Williams 2012). Media fandom has proved to be a transnational and transcultural - or even 'counter-nationalist' - milieu which 'exceed[s] hegemonic state defi  nitions of the 'national'' (Morimoto 2018:282).

As  academics  who  are  attempting  to  categorize  and  analyze  social practices in specifi  c fan communities, we therefore need to consider the varied ways in which diff  erent groups are interacting with global materials in their own local contexts (Chin & Morimoto 2013, Hills 2002b, Williams 2012). In considering how a sense of individual and community identity is built within a fandom, then, we must consider not only how local, national, and global contexts infl  ect individuals' interaction with transnational communities but also the 'diff  erent socialization agents, diff  erent cultures, diff  erent pathways to identity formation, and diff  erent conceptions of the best end goals … in play'  (Jensen  2003:195).  Fan  studies  has  always  been  interdisciplinary  but has nonetheless maintained a focus on identity and culture (Harrington & Beilby  2007).  An  important  aspect  of  both  identity  and  interaction  in  any transcultural space, which has so far been left   out of mainstream fan studies, is language.

## 2.3. Language use in transnational media fandoms

Although  language  is  acknowledged  as  an  important  aspect  of  fandom (Williams  2012),  there  remains  very  little  focus  on  the  nexus  of  linguistic repertoire and fans' sociocultural experiences outside of acknowledgements that there ought to be more focus on international fans in future scholarship (Chin, Punathambekar, & Shresthova 2018, Click, Gray, Mittell, & Scott 2018). Language, identity, and community are interlinked in a complex relationship; however, language has rarely been discussed in fan studies. Focus on language as a subject has predominantly been limited to translation practices. Where translation  has  been  considered  in  fan  studies  -  largely  in  relation  to  the study of Anglo-American fans of Asian cultural objects (e.g. Deppey 2005, Díaz Cintas & Muñoz Sánchez 2006, Hills 2002b, Fabbretti 2017) - it is largely due to 'academic fascination' with fan cultures which appear 'to reverse the narrative of US cultural imperialism' (Hills 2002b:2). However, 'fandom and national identity might have a more complex relationship, one that does not simply locate fan cultures 'in' a given national context, 'against' other national contexts,  or  as  'appropriating'  transcultural  products  in  a  global  economy/

culture' (Hills 2002b:2). As we will see, the question of language use in the SKAM fandom refl  ects this tension between the national and the international, as well as between local language protectionism and a desire for international recognition of local cultures.

Chin and Morimoto (2013:93) suggest using a 'broad framework for the  exploration  and  interrogation  of  border-crossing  fandoms'  which  does not  focus  on  national  identity.  We  must  consider  the  ways  in  which  the logic  of  fan  socialization  may  refl  ect  'transculturation, '  or  'socialization  to multiple modes of belonging and participation across national boundaries' (Lam  2006:173).  In  doing  so,  we  must  consider  not  only  the  potential  of transculturation but also the frustrations, miscomprehensions, and struggles that  result  from  transcultural  communication,  which  is  'at  times  diffi cult, chaotic,  and  tense,  but  also  possible  and  encouraging'  (Williams  2012:2528).  Of  particular  interest  to  this  study  are  both  the  use  of  translation  and the assumptions made by fan translators about their transcultural audience and that audience's linguistic competencies. However, we are also interested in the diff  erent language ideologies made apparent in fans' meta-discussions of translation from Norwegian.

For  Hills  (2002a),  fandom  is  essentially  contradictory  and  therefore diffi cult to theorize. To the points of contradiction which he lists (Hills 2002a), we wish to add 'language use' and 'pride in cultural products. ' Th e tensions of  globalization  can,  seemingly  contradictorily,  lead  to  both  an  increase  in both  the  'prevalence  of  English'  and  'linguistic  and  cultural  nationalism' (Pennycook  2003:521,  see  also  Williams  2012).  Th e SKAM fandom  is  an excellent example of this. As we will show in our analysis, below, Norwegian fans felt pride in the show and desired to share it with the world; however, their feelings about the necessary use of English, rather than Norwegian, to achieve this sharing caused tensions amongst Norwegian fans. Th is  tension may refl  ect a level of linguistic and cultural protectionism.

SKAM has already been investigated in several linguistic studies. Among these are a master's thesis (Hersdal 2018) providing a sociolinguistic study of  meta  discourses  about  Norwegian  language  use  among  Norwegian  and Danish fans and a thesis on fans' linguistic choices when translating/subtitling the  show  and  the  eff  ect  of  these  choices  on  fans'  perceptions  of  characters (Bjørkedal 2018). Quist and  Skovse  (2017)  discuss intra-Scandinavian debates  about  Norwegian  youth  slang  and  non-Scandinavians'  interest  in learning Norwegian as a result of the series. To our knowledge, however, no study to date has addressed fans' meta discourse regarding translation, nor has  one  directly  discussed  the  contradictions  inherent  in  an  international, English-language fandom centered on a non-English-language series. Th us, while these studies contribute to our knowledge about attitudes to specifi  c linguistic choices made in the series and in translations, we provide the fi  rst discussion of fans' attitudes towards the act of translation itself. In particular, we demonstrate that the relationship between and status of the two languages in question - that is, English and Norwegian - is complex, contradictory, and sometimes tense.

## 2.4. Th e roles of English

Th e  contradictions in the statuses of English and Norwegian in the SKAM fandom illustrate the unique role of English in global communication. While it  does  not  have  the  largest  native  speaker  population  (Simons  &  Fennig 2018), estimates indicate that it far outnumbers all other languages spoken globally  if  additional  language  users  are  counted  (e.g.  Crystal  2008,  House 2013). Not least, as already mentioned, popular culture tends to be consumed predominantly in English in many countries. Certainly in Scandinavia, English levels are generally assumed to be high (Education First 2017), especially as regards the consumption of popular culture (e.g. Preisler 1999). Notably, new forms of media that are increasingly replacing traditional broadcast television are English-dominated: A recent survey of Norwegian children's media habits found that children as young as 3-11 watched short online videos in English slightly more oft  en than in Norwegian (TNS Kantar 2017).

Views of this situation vary. Crystal (2012), for example, imagines a future where English may remain the international language of communication while other languages are maintained for local communication. Phillipson (2009), on the other hand, describes the spread of English as 'linguistic imperialism. ' In  Norway,  confl  icting  sentiments  can  be  found,  with  English  typically described as a trendy and fashionable language of prestige (Språkrådet 1990, Johansson & Graedler 2002), but there is also concern that Norwegian is being replaced in important domains, such as popular culture and higher education (e.g.  Mæhlum  2008,  Språkrådet  2017),  and  some  metaphorically  describe English as an invading force (Graedler 2014). Th ese concerns are found not only among authorities, such as the Language Council of Norway, but also among  the  general  population,  including  young  people  (Graedler  1998). Arguably, protectionist ideologies are particularly strong in Norway. Dialect protection  and  traditional  resistance  to  both  loan  words  and  the  historical infl  uence of Danish on the Norwegian language (Graedler 1998) are strong and  are  considered  to  demonstrate  both  local  and  national  belonging  and pride.

Another important issue when it comes to the role of English globally, especially in high-profi  ciency contexts such as Scandinavia, is the ideal of the native speaker. Th e  ideology of native language use as more authentic, and of the native speaker as the authoritative language user, is pervasive both in society and in many strands of linguistic research (Woolard & Schieff  elin 1994). In the case of English, an important debate took place in the early 1990s (e.g. Quirk 1990, Kachru 1991) over whether the (standard variety) native speaker should be the ideal for English L2 learning and whether non-native forms in L2 English are best viewed as acquisition failure or as natural variation in language use. With the spread of English as the main language of international communication,  in  which  most  interactions  now  take  place  between  nonnative speakers (Seidlhofer 2005), traditional classifi  cations of English use have increasingly been challenged. So-called foreign-language speakers of English may not be striving for native speaker standards in their English use but rather simply for eff  ective communication (e.g. Hülmbauer 2009, House 2013). As such,  second  and  foreign  language  users  are  not  best  viewed  as  defi  cient speakers  compared  to  the  norms  of  an  idealized  monolingual  speaker  but rather as 'multicompetent' speakers whose knowledge of multiple languages will naturally lead to a language competence diff  erent from but in fact richer than that of monolingual speakers (Cook 1991, 1992).

## 2.5. Multicompetence and transnational media fandoms

Fan translation  practices  can  be  argued  to  be  an  example  of  such  multicompetent language use. In translation,  media,  cultural,  and  fan  studies,  focus  on  fan translation  practices  is  relatively  new,  although  fans  have  been  translating, subtitling,  and  sharing  texts  since  at  least  the  1970s  (Deppey  2005,  DiazCintas & Muñoz Sànchez 2006, Fabbretti 2017, O'Hagan 2009, O'Hagan 2011, Spolidorio 2017). Th e two types of fan translation most commonly studied are Japanese-English fansubbing (fan subtitling) and scanlation (the translation of manga, a type of comic) (Deppey 2005, Diaz-Cintas & Muñoz Sànchez 2006, Fabbretti 2017, O'Hagan 2009, 2011). However, some studies have recently emerged which examine English to/from a European language translations (e.g. Massida 2015, Spolidorio 2017, Švelch 2013).

As  translation  is  an  innately  communicative  practice,  focus  within this subfi  eld  of  fan  studies  is  necessarily  on  communities of fans united by their shared interest in a media text rather than individual fan practices. Fan translation thus relates both to the focus on communities of practice common to applied linguistics and translation studies, as well as community-focused fan and media studies. Studies of fan translation practices have thus focused on  fans'  methods  of  translation  and  the  communities,  technologies,  and knowledge required for fans to successfully translate and subtitle/dub digital media  from  one  language  to  another  (e.g.  Diaz-Cintas  &  Muñoz  Sànchez 2006,  Fabbretti  2017,  Massidda  2015,  O'Hagan  2009,  2011).  Others  have assessed the perceived quality of translations (Diaz-Cintas & Muñoz Sànchez 2006, Švelch 2013). However, to our knowledge, none have focused on the role linguistic use plays in defi  ning fans' relationships with each other as well as their transcultural identity-building practices. Th is  study aims to fi  ll this gap.  It  analyzes  fans'  meta-discussions  of  translation  and  language  choices, how these discussions refl  ect fans' concerns regarding the local and national versus the transnational, the importance of language to fan experience, and fans' relationships with one another across linguistic and national boundaries.

As in many transnational communities, the language of choice in online media fandoms tends to be English. Th e use of English by non-native users in  such communities has not been widely studied; the vast majority of fan scholarship focuses on English-using fans and does not distinguish between L1  and  L2  users  of  English.  Where  L2  users  have  been  studied,  focus  has generally been limited to the language learning opportunities available through fandom (e.g. Black 2005, 2008, 2009), that is, seeing non-native English users as learners rather than as multicompetent users, or, as in the above-mentioned studies, on fan subtitling practices, subtitle quality, or the knowledge and skills fans require to eff  ectively translate and subtitle a series (e.g. Diaz-Cintas & Muñoz Sànchez 2006, Fabbretti 2017, Massidda 2015, O'Hagan 2009, 2011, Spolidorio 2017, Švelch 2013).

## 3. Method

We focus on translations to English found in the comments section of the offi cial SKAM website  for  several  reasons.  First,  we  do  not  wish  to  draw attention to fans whose work is not tacitly authorized by the series' producers. As the comments section on the offi cial website was moderated by the show's producers, we can assume that fan-provided translations in this forum are not seen as breaches of fair use or intellectual property law, while fans who posted translations (and perhaps copies of media) on other forums run the risk  of  legal  reprisal.  Secondly,  the  Norwegian  Centre  for  Research  Data (NSD) requires commentator anonymity. Th e  commentators on the SKAM site appeared not to use known pseudonyms for themselves, such as screen names they might regularly use on social media, as users were required to enter a pseudonym every time they commented. Some used fi  rst names or initials,  while  others  identifi  ed  themselves  by  nationality,  nickname,  or  in other ways that did not allow their identifi  cation. Only comments with no explicit identifying information are quoted.

Th is  study examines the comments posted for season three. Th is  was the season in which SKAM gained an international fandom but before the site was geo-blocked. We searched the comments sections on the offi cial web page using the search terms 'transl*' and 'Engl*' in order to identify comments providing or asking for translations. Comments simply stating, 'I watch the show using google translate, ' or excusing themselves for writing in English were excluded from the data set.

Th is  study  has  a  qualitative  focus.  Th rough  thematic  analysis,  initial themes were fi  rst identifi  ed inductively in the data. We then further refi  ned these  themes  into  broad  codes.  Data  were  coded  using  these  codes  and analyzed.

Approximate numbers have been provided as a rough guide to proportion. Around 1,200 individual entries were identifi  ed, including translations with no meta-comments and translations and other posts containing meta-discussion of the translations. However, it is not possible to give exact numbers as the meanings  of  some  comments  are  unclear  and  some  comments  contained multiple  themes.  Sometimes,  seemingly  identical  comments  are  posted at  diff  erent  times,  making  it  diffi cult  to  determine  whether  they  should  be identifi  ed as separate comments or as re-postings. Finally, the comments were modifi  ed  by  NRK,  so  our  analysis  can  only  include  fi  ltered  content;  other comments may have been removed in the moderation process. Th e provided numbers therefore only indicate trends in the material. However, the material does not lend itself to quantitative analysis.

## 4. Findings

Th e  following  four  themes  emerged  as  most  common  and  were  thus  used when coding the data for analysis:

- Negotiating for translations
- Discussion of translations
- Meta-discussion of the international SKAM fandom
- Valuing Norwegian as a precious resource.

Th e  fi  rst  theme  identifi  ed  was negotiating  for  translations .  In  the  initial identifi  cation of themes, around 250 comments were identifi  ed as requests for translation, while around 90 comments were direct responses to such requests, translations themselves not included. Th ese comments directly discuss the act of providing translations of posts on the website, both from the perspectives of those in need of translations and from the perspectives of those providing them, who are either willing or unwilling to do so.

Most common are translation requests from non-Norwegian speakers. Th ere are oft  en multiple requests for the translation of the same post, probably partly due to delays caused by NRK's moderation but presumably also because some posts had a very large number of comments where previous translations might  get  lost.  Posts  commonly  engendered  several  hundred  comments; at the time of writing this paper, the fi  nal clip of the season had more than 1,500 comments. Requests are generally of three types, namely requests that a  Norwegian speaker provide a translation in the comments (around 190), requests for recommendations for where to fi  nd translations (less than 10), and requests that NRK provide translation (around 30). Some requests were too general to categorize, such as comments saying, 'English, please, ' without any context.

Requests for a translation are oft  en extremely polite, expressing gratitude in advance to anyone willing to translate, such as the request, ' Any gentle soul to translate this?' Praising translators may be a way for non-Norwegian speakers without direct access to the SKAM content to ensure a positive relationship with those fans who have knowledge of Norwegian, and consequently, the power to provide access to the series, in order to obtain the necessary translations. Such requests appear to invoke the culture of gift  -giving common to online media fandom (Hills 2002a, Jenkins, Ford, & Green 2013) but also make visible the linguistic hierarchy of this fandom (Hills 2002a, 2002b, Jenkins & Carpentier 2013), with power clearly located with multicompetent language users who can provide fans who do not speak Norwegian with access to the desired content.

Th e  polite  wording and hedging underscore that the translation-requesting commentator relies on the multicompetent language user to understand the show and positions him-/herself as politely subservient.

However, there are also quite a few requests which could be perceived as less polite, for example, comments simply saying, 'Translation, please. ' As we will see later, these are sometimes perceived by Norwegian fans as entitled, and may induce negative responses. Th ese tensions may stem from diff  erent English  profi  ciency  levels  and  experience  with  diff  erent  communities  of practice  or  ELF  situational  contexts  (e.g.  Hülmbauer  2009).  As  discussed above, English competence in Scandinavia is generally high (Education First 2017), and as we will see below, not all Norwegian fans seem to consider that international  fans  may  also  be  non-native  speakers  of  English.  Th ey  may therefore expect adherence to politeness norms by other international fans who may either lack familiarity with these norms or may be used to using English in a milieu in which inclusion of a terminal 'please' is considered a  suffi cient  signal  of  politeness,  while  it  is  not  perceived  as  appropriate  by others in this fandom. Th us, these may be rare examples where deviation from standard English (politeness) norms causes a communication breakdown.

Th e  second type of request for translation asks for recommendations for where to watch SKAM with  English subtitles, for example, 'Th ere's  any way to watch it in English subtitles?' Th ese appear to come mainly from new fans who are not yet aware that offi cial translations do not exist. Th is shows how induction into fandom is oft  en facilitated by more experienced fans and demonstrates the process of enculturation into fandom (Hellekson & Busse 2006:13,  see  also  Jenkins  1992/2013).  Some  ask  specifi  cally  for  unoffi cial channels such as YouTube or Tumblr, which may perhaps demonstrate their familiarity with the channels of distribution commonly used by online media fandoms, suggesting that they are not necessarily new fans but fans new to the SKAM fandom in particular.

Th e last type of request for translation consists of explicitly telling NRK that they should provide subtitles, for example, 'Please add english subtitles. ' Again, these seem to come mostly from fans who have just discovered the series and are usually followed by other comments explaining why such subtitles do not exist. Some of these comments are quite temperamental, criticizing NRK's  perceived  fi  nancial  motives  for  keeping  the  series  'to  themselves. ' Th is  suspicion  of  NRK's  motives  demonstrates  the  anti-consumerist,  prodemocratic  impulse  of  media  fandom  more  generally,  suggesting  that  fans are suspicious of corporations' capitalistic motivations (Hills 2002a, Jenkins, Ford, & Green 2013).

With the  many  requests  for  translations,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the second  most  common  type  of  comment  in  our  material  is  responses  to translation requests. Th ese of course include the translations themselves, of which there are oft  en several for a single request. 2 Th is  is  likely  due  to  the lag in NRK's moderation and posting of comments rather than implying that fans intended to correct already provided translations, but it presumably also refl  ects that many fans are happy to provide and clarify translations, evincing the participatory and collaborative culture of online media fandoms (Jenkins 1992/2013). We discuss this in more detail below.

Explicit responses to requests for translation are twofold; most responses show that Norwegian fans are happy to help and to provide translations as free 'gift  s' (Hills 2002a, Jenkins, Ford, & Green 2013), but some imply that non-Norwegian fans should fi  nd other ways to understand the series and not bother the Scandinavian fans with translation requests. Th ese latter responses display the factional, rather than democratic, side of fandom (Hills 2002a) and  also  display  some  fans'  resistance  to  online  fan  communities'  impulse to provide free labor and gift  s or an individualist resistance to communityfocused, collectivist ideologies.

Positive responses that fans are happy to translate might consist of the translation itself; there are around 400 translations in total, including translations of entire clips, summaries, and explanations of individual words. Translators sometimes use the fi  eld intended for names to add headings such as 'Happy to help' or 'Here you go, ' underscoring the translation as a gift   (Hills 2002a, Jenkins, Ford, & Green 2013). In some cases, Scandinavian-speaking fans explicitly post comments to say that they enjoy providing translations or that they are happy to share the series with the international fandom, showing their pride in their local language and culture (Hills 2002b, Morimoto 2018) and displaying their enjoyment of the transnational SKAM fandom, that is, as an online space that demonstrates patterns of exchange and provides affi  rmative social affi liation in spite of borders (Vertovec 2009). Aft  er a translation request where someone apologizes for being annoying, one response is, 'Don't worry, most of us don't fi  nd it annoying that you want translations. We LOVE the fact that you love the show too!' Th is suggests that the fans providing translations experience transnational socialization as 'encouraging' (Williams 2012:28).

Sometimes, positive comments are given in direct response to negative comments. When someone tells international fans to stop requesting translations, this is usually immediately countered by others defending the right of international fans to enjoy the show. One Norwegian fan, for example, says (s)he is ashamed of the lack of hospitality refl  ected in such responses, while another uses the fi  eld intended for a name in her translation to say, 'Makes us proud! Almost every show we watch in Norway are in English, so im just glad to translate for you. ' Th ese exchanges underscore several of the themes discussed in the background section. Firstly, they show that while the SKAM fandom is largely encouraging, participatory, and polite, it nonetheless has its  various  factions  (Hills  2002a),  who  hold  diff  erent  beliefs  about  the  fandom's transnationality. For some fans, part of the enjoyment of the size and scope of the SKAM fandom appears to be that, counter to most popular culture watched in Norway, this show is not an English-language show; as such, these fans appear to enjoy its success precisely because it subverts the prevalence of English in popular culture (Hills 2002b, Pennycook 2003, Williams 2012). Th ey also enjoy the international attention received by the show, which makes them 'proud' of their language and culture, refl  ecting how fans' English use can, perhaps counterintuitively, bolster pride in local languages and cultures (Pennycook 2003). However, these clashes between fans also demonstrate the more protectionist and nationalistic impulses that transnationalism and translation can inspire (Graedler 2014, Pennycook 2003, Williams 2012, Woolard & Scheiff  elin 1994).

2 It should be noted that English is not the only language into which there are translations. We did come across a handful of translations into other languages (French, German, Spanish) in our material. However, since these translations were very few and were not systematically searched for, we do not discuss them here. It remains clear that the preferred language of international communication in the SKAM fandom is English.

Less positive responses  to  translation requests oft  en politely ask international  fans  to  look  for  translations  that  have  already  been  provided previously  in  the  comments  to  the  same  post,  and  quite  oft  en  a  smile  or heart emoji is used in such responses, indicating that they are not meant to be negative, such as, 'scroll up <3. ' Sometimes, reference is made to external channels distributing the show with subtitles, such as YouTube. However, other comments express frustration over repeated translation requests, in particular if those requests are not politely worded. One comment refers to these requests as 'whining' and another complains that the constant requests for translation 'clog up' the comments sections. One commentator even wants to exclude all non-Norwegian speakers from the website: 'honestly. Non Norwegian folks dont belong here. please comment on the illegal ones on yt. ' Such comments can be seen as a form of linguistic and cultural protectionism. Th is sentiment, however,  does  not  seem  to  extend  to  other  Scandinavians  experiencing comprehension problems, as questions from Danish fans, for example, do not seem to receive such responses; it seems that it is English which is perceived as  the  threat  in  this  context,  perhaps  refl  ecting  the  wider  cultural  trope  in Norway  of  discussing  English  as  a  threat  to  Norwegian  (Graedler  2014). Again, any negative comment of this kind is usually followed by a number of counteractive comments, such as, 'Honestly you should be happy that Skam is getting lots of love and support from all around the world, no need to hate, plus it doesn't aff  ect you in any way!' Th us, it appears that while some fans' linguistic  ideologies  are  protectionist  and  nationalistic  (Pennycook  2003, Williams 2012, Woolard & Scheiff  elin 1994), others view English as a way in which to share local languages and cultural products, and thus, to feel pride at the attention (Pennycook 2003, Williams 2012).

Comments providing discussion  of  translations can  be  divided  into  selfevaluation of one's own translation and evaluations and discussion of others' translations.

Self-evaluation is not extremely frequent. It usually expresses self-doubt in the translation. We identifi  ed around 60 such instances, where about 20 were fairly direct comments that the translation provided was bad, such as, 'Sorry for the norwenglish translate, but you will get the essence, ' while the rest were more subtle apologias. Sometimes this simply entailed using the fi  eld intended for providing a name for a comment, such as 'I tried, ' or even more subtly, 'Translation-ish' or 'English-ish. ' However, it is not very common to see translators apologize for their English. Commentators instead express doubt in translation choices or point to a lack of direct cognates in the target language: 'Sounds a bit strange, sorry. Some Norwegian slang is hard to translate!' Th ey also apologize for the haste of translation - as in, 'typing to fast, sorry' - or for possibly having forgotten to translate everything. Some emphasize that several people spoke simultaneously in a clip, making it hard to correctly translate, such as when a translator ends his post, 'given the many voice overlaps in this clip, errors are likely. ' Th ey express hope that their translation helped. In some cases, Danish speakers also apologize for having possibly misunderstood the Norwegian. In one particularly interesting comment, the translator apologizes for his/her translation by saying, 'don't hate on my translations i didn't know how to language.' Nonetheless, it is clear that the volunteer translators' focus is on comprehensibility and an accurate rendering of what takes place in the original clip or text rather than on writing prescriptively correct English. Th us, while some fans may feel self-conscious about their own English compared to more profi  cient users, their comments still seemingly refl  ect a view of ELF rather than a native speaker ideal (e.g. Hülmbauer 2009, House 2013, Švelch 2013), and that translators see themselves as multicompetent language users (Cook 1991, 1992), where it is not necessarily the L2 that causes errors.

Evaluations  of  translations  by  others  are  also  relatively  infrequent; expressions  of  gratitude  are  much  more  common  than  comments  on  the quality of the translation itself. Around 70 comments could be said to be such evaluations,  and  when  such  comments  appear,  they  are  oft  en  responses  to expressions of self-doubt by the translator. Th ese responses are overwhelmingly positive and, again, generally address the quality of the translation in terms of choices and intelligibility rather language correctness or native-likeness. For example, when a translator ends her entry with 'From a girl that isent that good in English, ' the response is, 'Th ank you. Your english is ok. Dont worry. ' In the few cases that comments are in fact negative, they generally do not focus on non-native forms or language errors in the English provided but rather on whether the language is coherent and on whether the Norwegian, oft  en teenage slang,  has  been  understood  correctly.  An  example  is  the  comment,  'what an awful translation. makes little sense, ' or, in discussing whether 'freaking lovely'  is  really  the  best  translation  of  the  Norwegian  term jævlig  deilig , 'More like 'you're so f***ing hot Isak' at the end there. Or 'f***ing delicious' or something.' Th us, although we did not analyze the translations themselves and cannot make strong claims about preferred approaches to translation (e.g.

literal versus idiomatic translation), a few comments may entail disagreement over  which  approach  is  most  appropriate.  Some  comments  simply  entail discussion of the best explanation of a Norwegian word for a non-Norwegian audience; in fact, 36 comments deal just with the correct explanation of the Norwegian word dust .

A  few  translations  do  elicit  overwhelmingly  negative  responses,  but these have clearly been translated using Google and are not only incorrect but  also  nonsensical;  these  few  posts  count  for  a  signifi  cant  proportion  of the  overall  number  of  evaluations.  One  example  is  when  Isak's  roommate Noora  comments  that  she  has  a gutt 'boy'  (meaning  boyfriend)  and  this is  translated as her saying she has a 'kid, ' which is obviously wrong in the context. Another translation which has received many correcting comments accidentally translates Ibiza as 'a pizza, ' resulting in a muddled, nonsensical metaphor. Again, the error is clearly in the comprehension of the Norwegian dialogue - in this case, probably simply mishearing - not in the translator's English. Th ere are around 15 comments correcting a translator's English, but these  seem  to  be  by  other  Norwegians  and,  again,  almost  exclusively  deal with content rather than the language itself, for example arguing that 'grilled cheese' is a better translation for ostesmørbrød than 'toast. ' Th is suggests that the  community  takes  a  collaborative  approach  to  translation  and  that  the SKAM fandom considers itself to be a collaborative, participative community (Jenkins 1992/2013) - focus here is on working together to provide the best translation possible for a wider audience. However, lack of critique may also indicate a lack of desire to criticize those seen as 'saviors, ' that is, the translators whose gift  s make possible non-Norwegians' participation in the fandom in the fi  rst place (Švelch 2013). Aside from a few instances where someone was called  out  for  using  Google  Translate,  we  identifi  ed  only  5  comments  that complained that the translation was poor, and only one relating this directly to the translator's English - and this comment was in Norwegian.

A  number  of  comments  provide  a meta-discussion  of  the  international SKAM fandom .  Th   is  theme  appears  in  requests  for  translation,  in  the responses to such requests, and in the translations themselves, as requests are oft  en claimed to be on behalf of all non-Norwegian speakers and responses and translations tend to be explicitly addressed to international fans. However, there is also discussion of aspects of the international fandom outside of these exchanges. Such discussions typically entail someone's expressing enthusiasm over the international spread of the show and asking where other fans are from: 'Curious to know where all you non-Norwegian skam fans come from. So cool you have discovered this. ' Such comments oft  en lead other fans to name their country and add information about how they learned about the show. Th is  interest  in  the  fandom  and  desire  to  create  social  ties  based  on popular cultural affi nity is a common aspect of online media fandoms (e.g. Harrington  &  Bielby  2007,  Hellekson  &  Busse  2006,  Hills  2002a,  Jenkins 1992/2013, Jensen 2003, Kusteritz 2015).

Th is theme has elicited a number of comments theorizing what 'English speaker'  means  in  this  community.  Occasionally,  fans  are  mocked  for  the English used in an independent comment which is not a translation. In every case  we  have  identifi  ed  where  this  occurs,  however,  the  critical  comment claims that the language errors reveal the author as a Norwegian pretending to be an international fan, and the comment's criticism is of the other fan's supposed disingenuousness. In three cases, subsequent commentators argue that  non-Norwegians  who  are  not  native  English  speakers  would  also  use English to comment. For example, where the critical comment claims, 'Only Norwegians write  English  like  that, '  the  original  commentator  replies  that (s)he is German. Th us, the criticism in these comments is not aimed at the quality of English per se but rather at the perceived dishonesty of Norwegians pretending to foreigners. Th is  may in turn refl  ect concern that Norwegians may prefer to use English over Norwegian due to its perceived higher status, and thus that Norwegian may be under threat (cf. Mæhlum 2008, Graedler 2014).  Responses  suggesting  that  English  is  the  natural  language  to  use  in transcultural  exchanges  online  reveal  commentators'  subscription  to  the belief that English can be used as an international language of communication regardless of interlocuters' mother tongues (e.g. Crystal 2012).

Another example of the ambiguity found in the comments about who the 'English speakers' are is found in discussion of the song accompanying the clip 'O helga natt. ' Th is  song, generally known in Norway by the same Swedish title as the clip itself, is in fact the song originally entitled 'Minuit, chrétiens' in  French. When one fan asks, in English, what the song is, the response from one Norwegian is that 'you have it too, ' explaining that it is 'O Holy Night.' Th e Norwegian fan thus clearly assumes that (s)he is interacting with a native speaker of English, although nothing in the original request for information indicates that this is so.

Comments  also  mention  other  internationally  available  platforms for watching SKAM in English, such as YouTube, Tumblr, or Twitter. Th ese comments  are  sometimes  responses  to  translation  requests,  but  there  are also cases where fans apologize for requesting a translation by saying that a YouTube channel used to watch the show has been taken down or explaining that they discovered the show through Tumblr but cannot fi  nd a translation. It is clear that for many, the comments section on skam.p3.no is just one of many platforms where they come together as a fandom to follow and discuss the series.

A number of comments relate to the theme valuing Norwegian as a precious resource . Such  comments  sometimes express regret for not  speaking Norwegian; for example, one fan describes him-/herself as unfortunate not to speak Norwegian. Many express frustration in their own lack of Norwegian, especially late at night, when there is a delay in fan-produced translations, for example, 'Help help help there are no translations up yet this is so painful, '

and, 'When you can't understand a word bc the translator is asleep. ' Th ese comments may also praise the Norwegian language itself, as in the comment, 'until I understand this beautiful language, may someone help me and translate it, pls?' Lack of Norwegian comprehension is clearly shown as a disadvantage in a sequence where someone posts the comment, 'I DONT UNDERSTAND BUT I ALREADY LIKE IT,' eliciting the response,  'You  should  wait  until translation  hits  you  before  commenting..  not  likeable, '  indicating  that  the clip did not end well. Th ese comments clearly underscore the ways in which subcultural  capital  (Schules  2014)  accrues  around  Norwegian  speakers and,  particularly,  multicompetent  translators  within  the  fandom,  and  they demonstrate how much power and importance these fi  gures have within the fandom. As such, multicompetent Norwegian speakers can be considered to hold a position at the top of a subcultural hierarchy in the SKAM fandom (e.g. Hills 2002a).

Th e  value  of  Norwegian competence in the fandom can also be seen in  the  frequent  expressions  of  gratitude  to  fans  who  provide  translations. Th ese  are  abundant  in  connection  with  further  requests  for  translation, that is, in contexts where they can be seen as strategies to obtain not only a single translation but also future translations. However, there are also many independent comments discussing how important the volunteer translators are and how grateful the international community is to translators. One fan responds  to  a  question  about  how  non-Norwegians  understand  the  show, 'We rely on the lovely bilingual Norwegian people on internetland to help us out with the dialogue. ' Such comments further underscore the power of the  multicompetent  Norwegian  user,  as  they  show  how  non-Norwegianspeaking fans openly demonstrate subservience and gratitude in order to elicit goodwill and future 'gift  ed' translations (Hills 2002a, Schules 2014). Many such comments describe translating tools as inadequate. In one sequence, an international fan has worried unnecessarily about Even's health because of a poor Google translation and expresses extreme gratitude when Norwegian fans explain that (s)he has misunderstood.

Th is theme in the comments illustrates how the international fandom depends on those with competence in Norwegian and can thus be seen as subverting  the  narrative  of  'linguistic  imperialism'  (Phillipson  2009)  in awarding prestige to multicompetence and non-English profi  ciency. Th is  is further emphasized by the translators themselves, when they explain features of the Norwegian language or Norwegian culture that they fi  nd diffi cult  to translate directly or provide details in addition to a translation to ensure that non-Norwegian viewers will understand. Such meta-comments in translations may, for example, explain the names or locations of streets or landmarks in Oslo, translate and describe acronyms for Norwegian institutions, or address linguistic issues such as idioms or puns that cannot be directly translated. For example, when Isak's roommate Eskild uses a Norwegian idiom which implies hospitality  incorrectly  and  is  subsequently  corrected  by  roommate  Linn,  a translator says, 'OKay, the whole heartroom-thing is an norwegian saying I have no Idea how to translate correctly. '

Yet  other  comments  express  pride  in  understanding  Norwegian. Oft  en,  such  comments  are  linked  to  inter-Scandinavian  comprehension, for  example,  Swedes  and  Danes explaining  that  they  have  understood  a clip without subtitles. Th ere are also examples of Icelandic and Finnish fans commenting that they understand a lot because they have learned Danish and Swedish, respectively, in school; for example, one Icelandic fan writes, 'Finally I understand why I had to learn Danish for 6 years. ' Finally, there are examples of  non-Scandinavians discussing their comprehension of Norwegian; some explain that they have actually learned it and are happy to be able to follow the  show,  while  others  describe  increasing  comprehension  of  the  language through watching the series, such as a German fan commenting, 'I basically watched so much Skam with undertitles that I can guess some things. ' Again, we see how the series carves out a space for valuing non-English language competence - knowledge of Norwegian is not only valued in this online space as giving one the freedom of direct access to the show's content but also allows one to accrue subcultural capital and demonstrate one's place in the SKAM fan hierarchy or one's dedication to the show, the fandom, or the culture that produced the show (Hills 2002a, Schules 2014).

Other comments address inter-Scandinavian comprehension problems. For  example,  Danish  speakers  may  complain  that  they  do  not  understand some of the spoken Norwegian or ask for clarifi  cation of particular words; discussion and explanation of these words sometimes ends up being in English. In one place, for example, a Danish fan asks about two Norwegian slang terms, and one reply starts, 'I'll do this in English for the sake of simplicity, ' and then goes on to explain the terms in English. Th us, although comprehension of a Scandinavian language is oft  en highlighted as an asset in the comments, at times, it is clear that Norwegian competence is in fact needed to independently comprehend the series.

## 5. Discussion and Conclusion

Our analysis identifi  ed  four  main  themes  in  our  data,  namely  'negotiating for translations, ' 'discussion of translations, ' 'meta-discussions of the international fandom,' and 'valuing Norwegian as a precious resource. ' Less prevalent themes have not been discussed.

Exchanges  coded  'negotiating for translations' largely celebrated the  international  fandom  and  demonstrated  fandoms'  gift  -giving  cultures (Hills 2002a, Jenkins, Ford, & Green 2013). However, although the general sentiment certainly seems to be genial, we also saw evidence of attempts at exclusion, where comprehension of Norwegian was suggested to be a central criterion  for  inclusion  in  the  fandom.  Th is  demonstrates  the  tensions  and contradictions between fans' pride in and desire to share local languages and cultures with wider transcultural audiences as opposed to their protectionism of what is seen to be 'theirs' (Chin & Morimoto 2013, Hills 2002b, Pennycook 2003, Williams 2012) and might be linked to underlying language ideologies (Woolard & Scheiff  elin 1994). Although general apologies for using English were excluded from the data set, these could also be considered to demonstrate the tensions between eff  ective transcultural communication (e.g. Crystal 2012, Hülmbauer 2009, House 2013) and local language protectionism (e.g. Graedler 2014, Woolard & Scheiff  elin 1994), or between the national and transnational (e.g. Chin & Morimoto 2013, Hills 2002b, Morimoto 2018, Williams 2012), Norwegian fans feel regarding their choice of language.

Th is study suggests that translations can be simultaneously shared for the purposes of understanding as well as to foster a wider community and mark affi liation with a global youth culture. Th e multicompetent fan develops a community identity within the fandom through the use of English; at the same time as his/her local context infl  ects the fan's interaction with both the local and the transnational community (Hills 2002b, Jensen 2003). Multicompetence, particularly one including a knowledge of Norwegian, allows the SKAM fan to accrue power and subcultural capital within this online media fandom (Hills 2002a, Schules 2014). It is possible that multicompetent fans with knowledge of  languages  other  than  Norwegian  and  English  also  accrue  power  within specifi  c SKAM -related  fan  communities  and  websites.  Further  research  on language use in other contexts within this fandom would be welcome.

In  comments  discussing  translations,  we  saw  that  neither  translators nor other fans usually commented on the linguistic quality of the translation or  on  whether  it  was  well-written  in  English.  Th is  is  in  line  with  previous research (Diaz-Cintas & Muñoz Sànchez 2006, Švelch 2013). A few translators apologized  for  their  English,  but  commonly,  insecurities  about  one's  own translation dealt with whether the translator had heard correctly or whether there were more accurate word choices which could improve the translation. Comments on the translations of  others  generally  focused  on  content  and clarity, and most were positive, with harsh criticisms given only to non-sensical translations provided by digital translation tools. In the few cases of criticism of the language of the translation, focus was on lexical choices and meaning, not on grammatical correctness. Such criticism seemed mostly to come from other  Norwegians.  Overall,  the  Norwegian  fan  community  appeared  more collaborative  and  participative  (Jenkins  1992/2013)  than  competitive  and factional (Hills 2002a), with a shared desire to provide accurate and cohesive English translations.

Importantly, praise of translations was far more common than criticism, which is again in line with earlier research (Švelch 2013). Power does not seem to be aff  orded to native speakers of English or those with native-like English competence.  Rather,  power  is  aff  orded  to  those  with  enough  Norwegian profi  ciency to give others access to the series. Th is supports earlier assertions that  power  in  international  fandom  relies  less  on  linguistic  accuracy  than multicompetence (Schules 2014). It also supports the assertion that there is a tension in transnational fandoms between the democratic impetus driving translation-as-gift    and  the  power  and  subcultural  capital  that  translators accrue (Hills 2002a, Jenkins & Carpentier 2013, Schules 2014).

Th is power is also evident in discussions of the international fandom, where  the  transnational  community  of SKAM fans  is  celebrated  through discussion of how they access the content and how important the volunteer translators are, underscoring how complex linguistic repertoires are valued (Woolard & Schieff  elin 1994). Th ere is some negative sentiment toward the use of English by those Norwegians who believe that English comments may be written by fellow Norwegians. Th is may demonstrate fans' desire that other fans be honest and a dislike of perceived disingenuousness but also seems to be driven by a misunderstanding of the possible motives for using English, such as communication with a global rather than local fan community; it may be linked to ideas that some Norwegians choose to use English simply for reasons of fashion and prestige (Johansson & Graedler 2002, Preisler 1999, Språkrådet 1990) or to the belief that English use undermines the Norwegian language (Graedler 2014). Th is may be considered to further highlight cultural and linguistic protectionism (Chin & Morimoto 2013, Pennycook 2003) or to emphasize the perceived value of a specifi  c 'subcultural identity … and peer group solidarity' (Preisler 1999:246-47). While Preisler (1999:246) has argued that in Scandinavia, English is oft  en used by youth to 'symbolize subcultural identity, '  it  appears  that  using  it  can  also  signal  the  'wrong'  impulses  or affi liations for some.

It is important to note that Norwegian and English are used as identitybuilding or -demonstrating tools by SKAM fans in various ways. While most Norwegians in our data use their Norwegian and English competence as a way  to  share  their  culture,  and  thus  to  accrue  subcultural  capital  and  feel pride within the transnational online fandom (e.g. Crystal 2012, Hills 2002a, Hülmbauer 2009, House 2013, Schules 2014), there are also examples where fans reject this sharing impulse and instead demonstrate a more protectionist attitude  that  may  refl  ect  a  traditional  resistance  to  loan  words  and  foreign linguistic infl  uence (Graedler 1998, Pennycook 2003). Foreign fans, too, may use a burgeoning Norwegian competence to gain subcultural capital within the fandom. As such, we can consider this transnational online fandom to contradictorily  be  a  space  which  for  some  fans  'exceed[s]  hegemonic  state defi  nitions  of  the  'national''  (Morimoto  2018:282)  yet  nonetheless,  for  a minority group of fans, encourages protectionism (Pennycook 2003, Williams 2012,  Woolard  &  Schieff  elin  1994).  Th is  demonstrates  that  'fandom  and national  identity  …  have  a  more  complex  relationship,  one  that  does  not simply  locate  fan  cultures  'in'  a  given  national  context  [or]  'against'  other national  contexts'  (Hills  2002b:2).  It  instead  suggests  that  local,  national, and  global  contexts,  including  individual  politics  and  language  ideologies, infl  ect the 'diff  erent pathways to identity formation' (Jensen 2003:195) that participation in a transnational online fandom opens up.

## Jennifer Duggan & Anne Dahl Scandinavian Studies in Language, 10(2), 2019 (6-29)

Finally,  comments  illustrating  the  role  of  Norwegian  as  a  precious resource  highlight  some  of  the  central  tensions  of  a  transnational  fandom centered on a non-Anglo phenomenon (Chin & Morimoto 2013, Pennycook 2003). While virtually all discussion within the international fan community is in English, the language projected as being of value is that of the series itself: Norwegian. Th us, the series and its fandom subverts the power of English and its 'linguistic imperialism' (Phillipson 2009) by aff  ording power to those who can access it in its original Norwegian form.

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