European Journal of Social and Human Sciences, 2016, Vol.(9), Is. 1 9 Matej Bel University, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia Has been issued since 2014 ISSN 1339-6773 E-ISSN 1339-875X Dubbing in Slovakia: A Heuristic Overview of the Process Ester Demjanová Department of British and American Studies Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Slovakia Petzvalova 4, 040 11 Košice Mgr. (Translation and Interpretation), Doctoral Student E-mail: ester.demjanova@student.upjs.sk Abstract This paper deals with dubbing and its specifics in Slovakia. The categorization of countries according to their preference in audiovisual translation is re-considered and re-designed around the current data regarding audiovisual translation in Europe. The focus of the article then shifts to dubbing in Slovakia and to some extent Czech Republic, where there is a strong preference for dubbing over subtitling in television production. A heuristic basis for the process of dubbing production based on personal experience and observations of the author is introduced and some issues that arise during this process are addressed. The current situation and changes in comparison to the past in the (Czecho-)Slovak dubbing are depicted and analyzed. The paper offers a brief outlook on dubbing from a rather empirical point of view. Keywords: dubbing, Slovakia, audiovisual translation, translation for dubbing, lip-sync editor Introduction The tradition of dubbing is characteristic of only a few countries in Europe. Audiovisual translation (AVT) has a much richer history and tradition in those countries that naturally felt the need to dub or subtitle what was produced in other states and in foreign languages. Some countries opted for subtitling, others for dubbing or voice-over. Even today, we can call certain countries “dubbing countries” and other “subtitling countries” (Gottlieb in Baker, 2001 p. 244) and, although this division has turned out to be insufficient (see e.g. Szarkowska, 2005), it is clear that the tradition of dubbing as a prevailing form of audiovisual translation is present only in some countries. This paper looks closely at how the countries are divided according to their prevailing audiovisual translation preference and then takes a closer look at the process of dubbing production in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. A Dubbing Country, a Subtitling Country or Both? According to Gottlieb (in Baker, 2001 p. 244), it is possible to divide the countries based on their audiovisual preference in the following way: 1. SL (source language) countries SL countries do not have the need to translate films and programs frequently because vast majority of programs is created in their language. These are the English-speaking countries with little or no AVT tradition. If a program needs to be translated, there will be a general tendency towards subtitling, not dubbing. 2. Dubbing countries (e. g. French-, Italian-, German-, Spanish-speaking) Dubbing countries are countries where the general tendency in audiovisual translation is towards dubbing. 3. Voice-over countries (e.g. Russia, Poland) Voice-over countries prefer voice-over over dubbing because of its low costs.