Jak rozmawiać z kosmitami? Kilka uwag o tłumaczeniu lektorskim telewizyjnych filmów fantastyczno-naukowych (na przykładzie ‘Star Trek’),

Within the relatively new field of audiovisual translation studies, voice-over has been given very little attention and very little credit, even in Poland, where it is used extensively in TV translation of motion pictures. Similarly, the science-fiction film genre – especially its television form – is usually treated with some contempt and considered not worthy of serious research, except for sociological reasons. The two main issues discussed in this paper are: firstly, the ontological status of the s-f film, the specificity and function of its language and the general problems of its translation; secondly, the weaknesses and strengths of Polish voice-over practice, illustrated by the analysis of various Star Trek translations and compared with its dubbed and subtitled versions. The examination of the film material leads to the conclusion that, in spite of the negative evaluation of voice-over by scholars, this translation practice has some potential. If fully exploited, it could offer a valid alternative to dubbing and subtitling techniques.