Publications

Publication details [#19258]

[no author]. 2010. Narrating the world: 'accurate' translations, suspicious frames. In [no author]. Translating justice. Traducir la justicia. Granada: Comares. pp. 47–60.
Publication type
Article in jnl/bk
Publication language
English

Abstract

Until relatively recently, Translation and Interpreting Studies tended to shy away from engaging with contemporary political and moral issues that necessarily draw attention to the ethical dilemmas and responsibilities of both practitioners and researchers in the field. Holding on to a naïve model of communication in which the translator – and especially the interpreter – is portrayed as a neutral, impartial vehicle through which language and other semiotic signs pass unchanged (and ‘untainted’ by the mediator’s own narratives of the world), scholars tended to invest in ‘sanitised’ theoretical models and case studies, generally ironing out the very messy and often traumatic reality of mediation in translation and interpreting. The chapter focuses on examples in which selective appropriation of translations is made, particularly by neoconservative advocacy groups, in order to manipulate the perception of the Arab world reality. Narrativity is one of the devices used by these groups and their translators, but other paralinguistic, visual and linguistic devices are also used. By revealing these more subtle mechanisms, people can be better equipped to challenge neoconservative discourse.
Source : Based on I. Alonso