Have you ever wondered what really happens to your favourite movies when they undergo the process of translation for dubbing? Do the characters still speak about exactly the same things in different language versions? Where does the process of translation actually stop and where does adaptation start? And is it ok to change certain original elements in translation to such an extent that it can no longer be called a translation? You’ll have a chance to ponder all these questions as well as come up with interesting answers during my presentation which is going to provide an insight into some of the challenges of audiovisual translation. I’d love to share with you some selected examples of cultural elements introduced in the original English version of the movie Shrek and analyse their Polish, Spanish and German translations for dubbing, taking into account the similarities, as well as the striking differences in translators’ approach. I’d also invite you to share your own views on the possible impact the individual translations may have on the target audience.

Karolina Puchała-Ladzińska is a translator and academic teacher at the University of Rzeszów, Poland. She holds a doctoral degree in linguistics and her area of specialization is translation in the English-Polish and Spanish-Polish language pairs. Being a passionate teacher and language learner, she makes sure to create a mini language environment for herself everyday by having as much contact as possible with the languages she is learning. She is fluent in Polish, English and Spanish, and also studies German, a little bit of Italian and recently Finnish. She loves sharing her passion for languages with others and finds that the contact with like-minded language lovers is a never-ending source of inspiration.

This video was recorded at the Polyglot Gathering Online 2021 (https://www.polyglotgathering.com).