Voiceover as Spoken Discourse

Abstract

Despite its prevalence in news programmes and documentary channels, voiceover translation has long failed to make itself heard in audiovisual translation (AVT) studies (Franco et al. 2010; Orero 2004; Woźniak 2008). This academic neglect has recently been diminished by the publication of the first monograph on this AVT modality, with its specific focus on non-fictional programmes (Franco et al. 2010). The post-Soviet voiceover translation of fiction still remains uncharted territory, however. Drawing a map of this territory would enrich both genre- and method-specific approaches to AVT. It would require a joint effort from Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Georgian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian cartographers, exploring the norms of voiceover translation and delivery specific to each country, with single or multiple voice artists interpreting the lines with different levels of emotional involvement. Unfortunately, only a handful of enthusiasts have registered an interest in this type of project to date. In Eastern Europe, despite the growing popularity of AVT studies, ‘little or no research’ is being done into voiceover practices (Grigaravièiûtë and Gottlieb 1999: 45–46).