ABSTRACT
Dubbing and subtitling have been the object of extensive research in audiovisual translation (AVT) (Chaume 2012, Díaz Cintas and Remael 2007) due to the popularity of these modalities in many countries. However, there is a third audiovisual transfer mode that has not been analyzed in such detail, but which nonetheless is extensively used in many audiovisual markets: voice-over. Sometimes termed the ‘ugly duckling’ of audiovisual translation (Orero 2006b), a ‘damsel in distress’ (Wozniak 2012: 211) or even an ‘orphan child’ (Bogucki 2013: 20), many academic and non-academic voices have drawn attention to the limitations of voice-over (Glaser 1991, Tomaszkiewicz 2006, Garcarz 2007), and have accounted for the fact that it continues to be used in some countries in terms of the low costs that it incurs. However, voice-over is a reality accepted by many audiences, and its academic study has increasingly captured the attention of translation scholars.
