Position of Translated Film in Europe and in Poland: 27 Years Late

The position of Polish film after 1989 has significantly deteriorated. Previously admired and respected, Polish cinematographers are now battling against a profound crisis – a creative one, but also a financial one.
In the meantime, American films, i.e. Hollywood films, dominate in European cinemas. And as, according to Lawrence Venuti, a translation strategy concerns also the choice of texts to be translated, this is the point in which translation commences. Therefore, why do the majority of films selected for translation by European distributors come from Hollywood?
Since the 1980s, a period of extraordinary prosperity for Hollywood, and a period of crisis for the European cinema, the manner of perceiving of motion pictures has changed, and that, in turn, has changed the balance of power in the world cinema. We shall briefly present those changes and factors that influenced them, and shaped the current situation. In order to better illustrate it, we shall base the presentation on Zohar’s polysystem theory.
This situation influences the position of Polish cinema: recognized and appreciated for its artistic value in the period between 1950s and 1980s, despite censorship, and now – a marginal phenomenon, which may seem surprising, even paradoxical. We shall attempt to demonstrate also possible explanations for that situation.
At the end of our paper, we shall briefly comment on the status of the television, which is slightly different than that of the cinema.
 

The position of Polish film after 1989 has significantly deteriorated. Previously admired and respected, Polish cinematographers are now battling against a profound crisis – a creative one, but also a financial one.
In the meantime, American films, i.e. Hollywood films, dominate in European cinemas. And as, according to Lawrence Venuti, a translation strategy concerns also the choice of texts to be translated, this is the point in which translation commences. Therefore, why do the majority of films selected for translation by European distributors come from Hollywood?
Since the 1980s, a period of extraordinary prosperity for Hollywood, and a period of crisis for the European cinema, the manner of perceiving of motion pictures has changed, and that, in turn, has changed the balance of power in the world cinema. We shall briefly present those changes and factors that influenced them, and shaped the current situation. In order to better illustrate it, we shall base the presentation on Zohar’s polysystem theory.
This situation influences the position of Polish cinema: recognized and appreciated for its artistic value in the period between 1950s and 1980s, despite censorship, and now – a marginal phenomenon, which may seem surprising, even paradoxical. We shall attempt to demonstrate also possible explanations for that situation.
At the end of our paper, we shall briefly comment on the status of the television, which is slightly different than that of the cinema.