Polish Screenplay in English Translation

• Main Author: Aneta Tatarczuk
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Polish Association for the Study of English 2019-06-01
• Series: Polish Journal of English Studies
• Subjects: screenplay; translation; specialized translation; literary translation; text-type
• Online Access: http://pjes.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/PJES_5-1_4_Tatarczuk.pdf

Screenplay is the script of a film, including acting instructions and scene directions. There is a long way from finished screenplay to the moment when the film is distributed and the audience can watch it on the screen in the cinema. If the film is a co-production engaging foreign actors and foreign financing, one of the stages in the process is translation of the screenplay from native to another language, for instance English. Screenplay itself is a literary text, but its final product is a film. Screenplay has a specific formatting style, and it is written according to set guidelines. It combines specialized text and literary text. Screenplay is both a work of art, inspiring all the people engaged in the process of film production, and a technical blueprint for the future movie. This article describes the task of the translation of a screenplay for production and shooting purposes, discusses the elements that must be taken into account while translating it, and focuses on possible issues connected to trans-lation of this type of modular text.