Luisa Rodríguez Muñoz, University of Córdoba

Sworn translation is one of the written translation modalities that bring together professionals and direct clients sharing social spaces. Partly because of the need to exchange not only electronic files but also original documents, sworn translators still receive their clients personally at their offices. This situation may be both an opportunity and a threat depending on the interpersonal competence the translator has developed during his formal and informal training. Furthermore, the sworn translator and interpreter is a key element in migratory processes as they certificate the authenticity of translations of documents from the migrants’ legal systems. In this situation, the professional faces a striking power imbalance which requires mediation and challenges the neutrality usually linked to professionalism. Their social role demands sworn translators and interpreters to assume their responsibility as a public service. Depending on their point of view, this responsibility can allow them to build on their experience and knowledge in an interactive way. In so doing, they can also gain insights into the context of their projects, advance their profession in society, retain costumers, diversify their products and establish no official networks based on their expert knowledge. Thus, they can highlight their discursive and cultural expertise, facing the harshness of migratory bureaucracy. In this contribution, the traditional professionalism model of sworn translation is questioned and a new dialogue is opened with an interventionism legitimized by a defined role from a not-so-new ethical view.