Raquel de Pedro, Heriot-Watt University of Edinburgh
Since 2012, the Peruvian State, through its Indigenous Languages Division, has been training indigenous translators and interpreters. Their remit is to facilitate communication between the indigenous population of the country and its institutions, against a socio-political background of historical marginalization of, and discrimination against, indigenous languages and cultures.
This talk will focus specifically on the role that the indigenous interpreters play in guaranteeing access to justice for speakers of minoritised languages. It will provide relevant contextual information about Peru, introduce the legal framework for the provision of interpreting services between Spanish and indigenous languages and describe the training programme put in place by the State, before addressing critically the challenges that practitioners and institutions face. It will conclude with some observations derived from research and fieldwork conducted in Peru between October 2014 and June 2016 for a project entitled “Translating Cultures: the legislated mediation of indigenous rights in Peru”, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK).