1887
Volume 30, Issue 3
  • ISSN 0924-1884
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9986
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

Interpreting in complex transnational contexts has emerged as a recent area of interest for translation and interpreting scholars. These contexts provide a fertile ground for a sociological conceptualization of interpreting, as an emergent practice situated at the interface of individual agency and a socio-professional context. Drawing on our experiences in training interpreters for the ICRC and the UNHCR we develop a positionality-based understanding of ‘humanitarian interpreting’ and define this new analytical category. Based on two paradigmatic profiles of humanitarian interpreters, we present a comparative analysis of the intrinsic and relational factors shaping the positionality of ICRC and UNHCR interpreters in the humanitarian field and describe some of the ethical dilemmas these interpreters face. We furthermore discuss potential similarities and differences between interpreting in humanitarian and other contexts, such as military operations and asylum settings.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/target.17108.del
2018-07-31
2025-02-18
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Allen, Katharine
    2012 “Interpreting in Conflict Zones.” https://najit.org/interpreting-in-conflict-zones/
  2. Baker, Catherine
    2010 “The Care and Feeding of Linguists: The Working Environment of Interpreters, Translators and Linguists during Peacekeeping in Bosnia-Herzegovina.” War & Society29 (2): 154–175.10.1179/204243410X12674422128993
    https://doi.org/10.1179/204243410X12674422128993 [Google Scholar]
  3. Baker, Mona
    2013 “Translation as an Alternative Space for Political Action.” Journal of Social, Cultural and Political Protest12 (1): 23–47.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Baker, Mona , and Carol Maier
    2011 “Ethics in Interpreter & Translator Training.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer5 (1): 1–14.10.1080/13556509.2011.10798809
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2011.10798809 [Google Scholar]
  5. Blommaert, Jan
    2001 “Investigating Narrative Inequality: African Asylum Seekers’ Stories in Belgium.” Discourse & Society12 (4): 413–449.10.1177/0957926501012004002
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926501012004002 [Google Scholar]
  6. Bourdieu, Pierre
    1977Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511812507
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511812507 [Google Scholar]
  7. 1984 “Espace social et genèse des ‘classes’.” Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales52–53: 3–14.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. 1994Raisons pratiques. Sur la théorie de l’action. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Buzelin, Hélène
    2005 “Unexpected Allies.” The Translator11 (2): 193–218.10.1080/13556509.2005.10799198
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2005.10799198 [Google Scholar]
  10. Cain, Kenneth , Heidi Postlewait , and Andrew Thomson
    2004Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story from Hell on Earth. New York, NY: Miramax Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Crezee, Ineke
    2013Introduction to Healthcare for Interpreters and Translators. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/z.181
    https://doi.org/10.1075/z.181 [Google Scholar]
  12. Dean, Robyn K. , and Robert Q. Pollard Jr.
    2011 “Context-Based Ethical Reasoning in Interpreting.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer5 (1): 155–182.10.1080/13556509.2011.10798816
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2011.10798816 [Google Scholar]
  13. Delgado Luchner, Carmen
    . Forthcoming. “‘A Beautiful Woman Sitting in the Dark’ – Three Narratives of Interpreter Training at the University of Nairobi.” Interpreting21 (1).
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Delgado Luchner, Carmen , and Leïla Kherbiche
    . Forthcoming. “Ethics Training for Humanitarian Interpreters.” Special issue of theJournal of War and Culture Studiesto be published inFebruary 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Drugan, Joanna , and Rebecca Tipton
    2017 “Translation, Ethics and Social Responsibility.” The Translator23 (2): 119–125.10.1080/13556509.2017.1327008
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2017.1327008 [Google Scholar]
  16. Edwards, Rosalind
    1998 “A Critical Examination of the Use of Interpreters in the Qualitative Research Process.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies24 (1): 197–208.10.1080/1369183X.1998.9976626
    https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.1998.9976626 [Google Scholar]
  17. Fechter, Anne-Meike
    2016a “Aid Work as Moral Labour.” Critique of Anthropology36 (3): 228–243.10.1177/0308275X16646837
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275X16646837 [Google Scholar]
  18. 2016bThe Personal and the Professional in Aid Work. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Ficklin, Lisa , and Briony Jones
    2009 “Deciphering ‘Voice’ from ‘Words’: Interpreting Translation Practices in the Field.” Graduate Journal of Social Science6 (3): 108–130.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Footitt, Hilary , and Michael Kelly
    2012Languages at War: Policies and Practices of Language Contacts in Conflict. London: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9781137010278
    https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137010278 [Google Scholar]
  21. Goffman, Erving
    1961a “The Characteristics of Total Institutions.” InGoffman 1961b, 1–124.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. 1961bAsylums. Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Inghilleri, Moira
    2003 “Habitus, Field and Discourse: Interpreting as a Socially Situated Activity.” Target15 (2): 243–268.10.1075/target.15.2.03ing
    https://doi.org/10.1075/target.15.2.03ing [Google Scholar]
  24. 2005a “Mediating Zones of Uncertainty.” The Translator11 (1): 69–85.10.1080/13556509.2005.10799190
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2005.10799190 [Google Scholar]
  25. 2005b “The Sociology of Bourdieu and the Construction of the Object in Translation and Interpreting Studies.” The Translator11 (2): 125–145.10.1080/13556509.2005.10799195
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2005.10799195 [Google Scholar]
  26. 2008 “The Ethical Task of the Translator in the Geo-Political Arena.” Translation Studies1 (2): 212–223.10.1080/14781700802113556
    https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700802113556 [Google Scholar]
  27. 2010 “You Don’t Make War without Knowing Why.” The Translator16 (2): 175–196.10.1080/13556509.2010.10799468
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2010.10799468 [Google Scholar]
  28. Jansen, Bram J.
    2013 “Two Decades of Ordering Refugees: The Development of Institutional Multiplicity in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp.” InDisaster, Conflict and Society in Crises: Everyday Politics of Crisis Response, Volume 1 of Routledge Humanitarian Studies Series, edited by Dorothea Hilhorst , 114–131. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Kherbiche, Leïla
    2009Interprètes de l’ombre et du silence: entre cris de chuchotements – Réflexion sur l’interprétation dans un contexte humanitaire auprès du CICR. Master’s thesisUniversity of Geneva.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Kim, Sowon , and Susan Schneider
    2008 “The International Committee of the Red Cross: Managing across cultures.” www.alnap.org/pool/files/the-icrc-managing-across-cultures.pdf
  31. Maryns, Katrijn
    2013 “Disclosure and (Re)performance of Gender-Based Evidence in an Interpreter-Mediated Asylum Interview.” Journal of Sociolinguistics17 (5): 661–686.10.1111/josl.12056
    https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12056 [Google Scholar]
  32. 2015 “Asylum Settings.” InRoutledge Encyclopedia of Interpreting Studies, edited by Franz Pöchhacker , 23–26. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Meylaerts, Reine
    2005 “Sociology and Interculturality.” The Translator11 (2): 277–283.10.1080/13556509.2005.10799202
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2005.10799202 [Google Scholar]
  34. Mikkelson, Holly
    2000Introduction to Court Interpreting. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Morris, Helen , and Frances Voon
    2014 Which Side Are You On? Discussion Paper on UNHCR’s Policy and Practice of Incentive Payments to Refugees. Technical Report, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
  36. Moser-Mercer, Barbara , Carmen Delgado Luchner , and Leïla Kherbiche
    2013 “Uncharted Territory: Reaching Interpreters in the Field.” InCIUTI-Forum 2012: Translators and Interpreters as Key Actors in Global Networking, edited by Martin Forstner and Hannelore Lee-Jahnke , 403–422. Bern: Peter Lang.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Narang, Neil
    2015 “Assisting Uncertainty: How Humanitarian Aid Can Inadvertently Prolong Civil War.” International Studies Quarterly59 (1): 184–195.10.1111/isqu.12151
    https://doi.org/10.1111/isqu.12151 [Google Scholar]
  38. Ozolins, Uldis
    2014 “Descriptions of Interpreting and their Ethical Consequences.” FITISPos International Journal1: 23–41.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Palmieri, Daniel
    2012 “Une institution à l’épreuve du temps? Retour sur 150 ans d’Histoire du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge.” Revue internationale de la Croix-Rouge (888): 85–111.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Perrin, Pierre
    1998 “The Impact of Humanitarian Aid on Conflict Development.” International Review of the Red Cross (323): 319–334.10.1017/S0020860400091051
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020860400091051 [Google Scholar]
  41. Pöllabauer, Sonja
    2004 “Interpreting in Asylum Hearings. Issues of Role, Responsibility and Power.” Interpreting6 (2): 143–180.10.1075/intp.6.2.03pol
    https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.6.2.03pol [Google Scholar]
  42. Rességuier, Anaïs
    2013Humanitarian Workers: Personal Ethics, Psychology and Lifestyle. Conference Report. Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict, Department of Politics and International Relations. University of Oxford.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Ruiz Rosendo, Lucía , and Clementina Persaud
    eds. 2016Interpreting in Conflict Situations and in Conflict Zones throughout History. Special issue ofLinguistica Antverpiensia New Series – Themes in Translation Studies 15.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Schmale, Matthias
    2012 “Réflexion sur le rôle actuel et futur du CICR dans les crises humanitaires.” Revue internationale de la Croix-Rouge (888): 73–77.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. The Sphere Project
    The Sphere Project 2011The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. Rugby: Practical Action Publishing.10.3362/9781908176202
    https://doi.org/10.3362/9781908176202 [Google Scholar]
  46. Thomson, Patricia
    2012 “Field.” InPierre Bourdieu Key Concepts, edited by Michael J. Grenfell , 65–80. Durham: Acumen Publishing Limited.10.1017/UPO9781844654031.007
    https://doi.org/10.1017/UPO9781844654031.007 [Google Scholar]
  47. Tipton, Rebecca
    2008 “Reflexivity and the Social Construction of Identity in Interpreter-Mediated Asylum Interviews.” The Translator14 (1): 1–19.10.1080/13556509.2008.10799247
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2008.10799247 [Google Scholar]
  48. 2011 “Relationships of Learning between Military Personnel and Interpreters in Situations of Violent Conflict: Dual Pedagogies and Communities of Practice.” InEthics and the Curriculum, special issue ofInterpreter and Translator Trainer5 (1): 15–40.10.1080/13556509.2011.10798810
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2011.10798810 [Google Scholar]
  49. UNHCR
    UNHCR 2009Interpreting in a Refugee Context. Self-study Module 3. Technical Report, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Veuthey, Michel
    2014 “Religions et droit international humanitaire: histoire et actualité d’un dialogue nécessaire.” www.aiesc.net/blog/2014/08/23/religions-et-droit-international-humanitaire-histoire-et-actualite-dun-dialogue-necessaire-michel-veuthey/
/content/journals/10.1075/target.17108.del
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/target.17108.del
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error