Category Archives: Translation and Interpreting

by monzo

Translating Refugees. Empirical Findings and Theoretical Considerations

Dilek Dizdar & Tomasz Rozmyslowicz

The paper presents results from a new research project on the role of translation and interpreting in the context of forced migration. In this project, field research is conducted in a German reception facility for refugees. The research interest focuses on an often neglected but central aspect of forced migration: the role of translation and interpretation in the communications between refugees and  authorities. Contrary to the widespread view in everyday life and also in academia, these mediation processes are not neutral and harmless acts of transferring meaning. Rather, they are complex and consequential practices of constructing and processing difference that require in-depth investigation.

The presentation will show how translating and interpreting do not simply cross existing language boundaries, but first and foremost draw them, sorting people by language and assigning them to language communities (Sakai 2018; Dizdar 2021). Under what institutional conditions do such assignments take place? And what consequences do they entail? What does it mean, for example, when refugees from Africa are classified as «French-speaking» and therefore have to speak the language of a former colonial power? What does it mean to be subsumed under a category like «Arabic» when it encompasses a multitude of different and not necessarily mutually intelligible ways of speaking (Dizdar 2021)?

By answering such questions, the presentation aims to reconsider the relation between language and translating/interpreting practices on a theortical level.

Dizdar, Dilek (2021): «Translation als Katalysator von Humandifferenzierung», in: Dizdar, Dilek/Hirschauer, Stefan/Paulmann, Johannes/Schabacher, Gabriele (Hg.) (2021): Humandifferenzierung. Disziplinäre Perspektiven und empirische Sondierungen. Weilerswist: Velbrück, 135-159.

Sakai, Naoki (2018): „The modern regime of translation and its politics”, in: D’hulst, L./Gambier, Y. (Hg.): A History of Modern Translation Knowledge: Sources, concepts, effects. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins (Benjamins Translation Library 146), 61-74.

Keywords: refugees, translation/interpreting, language, field research, asylum centre.

by monzo

Achieving Language Justice through Increased Capacity for Provisioning Professional Translation and Interpreting Services

Indira Sultanic

Language justice is social justice. However, achieving language justice is not a linear but a continual process. One that comprises ongoing education and training of all stakeholders to ensure meaningful access to services for Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals through translation and interpreting. This research project explores current practices around language access and the provision of translation and interpreting services, in relation to both state and federal language access guidelines in the United States. It does so within the broader framework of language access as a catalyst for achieving greater equity and social justice among minoritized, LEP communities. It builds on existing translation and interpreting research on (in)equities in access to social services for these communities. Accessing information in one’s preferred language and desired modality is critical to their ability to participate fully in all areas of daily life. Despite existing state and federal policies that require health and social services to comply with language access guidelines, the COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on the inconsistencies, and the ad hoc approach to provisioning these services. Thus, this project explores the critical components which are paramount to building language justice and offers a model for increasing interpreter and translator capacity through interprofessional education and training. Lastly, it re-examines existing and considers additional best practices for language access in the U.S.

Keywords: language justice, language access, interprofessional collaboration, meaningful access, interpreting, translation