Cognition and poliphony in the translation of documentaries

The aim of this article is to analyze some of the elements that have not always been considered when trying to explain the difficulties encountered in the process of translating programs related to the popularization of science. Those who have ever translated documentaries will immediately think of the long hours dedicated to find the exact equivalent for the terminology. In general, we tend to associate the translation of texts connected with science with the struggle to find the most accurate terminology equivalent, and this is certainly a bother when having to find the equivalent for plants or animals which do not exist in the target language, and for which a term has not been yet established. Nevertheless, as we will see, verbal behavior and actions present in the documentary, which are common for the original audience, are not always easy to convey to a different language. At the same time, as in other instances of audiovisual translation, image plays a main role and the sentence order may need to be rearranged in the target text. To help us to track those aspects which need to be considered during the translation process and in order to highlight those instances where mediation will be mainly required, I have divided this article in three sections. In the first one, I will define the concept popularization of science and I will show how information ins presented in documentaries; in the second section I will describe the cognitive processes activated by the audience when trying to grasp the information present in these programs; and the last section I will illustrate how poliphony helps to convey science through television.