Alice Leal
Associate Professor of Translation and Interpreting Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg
Multilingualism is one of the pillars of the European Union, enshrined – however precariously – in its treaties and indirectly celebrated in its motto, “united in diversity”. Its 24 official and working languages enjoy the same status, at least de jure, and so do all language versions of any given text (authentication of translations).
Yet multilingualism no longer has its own portfolio in the Commission, having been systematically downgraded and now being under the auspices of the Directorate-General for Translation, a directorate which nevertheless does not have a unit dedicated to the fostering – or the very least the monitoring – of linguistic diversity in the EU. Moreover, with the rise of English as the EU’s unofficial lingua franca, increasingly more material is produced in English and not translated at all, and the vast majority of the legally binding documents that do get translated into all official languages are drafted in English – a fact that often goes unnoticed due to the authentication of language versions.
Therefore, we should ask ourselves whether the EU’s de facto linguistic and translation regimes are not at odds with the treaties – including the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Drawing together transdisciplinary threads from translation studies, linguistics, political science and philosophy of language, this paper places emphasis on models of linguistic justice (e.g. Grin, Van Parijs), language rights (e.g. Shohamy, Skutnabb-Kangas) and language policy (e.g. Johnson, Ricento) to propose a new linguistic modus operandi for the EU, grounded on (1) a renewed appreciation of language and linguistic diversity, (2) an increased translation output and a more transparent translation regime, and (3) de facto multilingualism through intercomprehension, translation and interpreting. It reflects and expands the findings recently published in English and translation in the European Union: Unity and multiplicity in the wake of Brexit (2021, Routledge).
Keywords: multilingualism, translation, English as a lingua franca, intercomprehension.