Part of
Introducing New Hypertexts on Interpreting (Studies): A tribute to Franz PöchhackerEdited by Cornelia Zwischenberger, Karin Reithofer and Sylvi Rennert
[Benjamins Translation Library 160] 2023
► pp. 126–146
Edited by Cornelia Zwischenberger, Karin Reithofer and Sylvi Rennert
[Benjamins Translation Library 160] 2023
► pp. 126–146
Women as interpreters in colonial New Netherland
A microhistorical study of Sara Kierstede
This contribution presents a case study of Sara Kierstede (aka Roelof, Van Borsum, Stouthoff), a Dutch-speaking New Netherland settler and 17th-century interpreter who was proficient in Dutch and Native American languages and served as interpreter in a male-dominated colonial environment in settings that today would be labeled as public service interpreting (PSI) or, in some instances, diplomatic interpreting. Following a microhistorical approach, rooted in Translator Studies, we discuss the agency and positioning of Kierstede as one of the few female interpreters in a multilingual colonial contact zone. We use different historical and secondary sources and reinterpret them from a translatological perspective to explore Kierstede’s interactions and relations with other stakeholders as linguistic go-between and official provincial interpreter in Dutch colonial encounters and her role as an influential woman and cultural mediator in the self-contained network of relationships that characterised Dutch colonial society in New Amsterdam.
Keywords: translation history, colonial interpreting, Dutch colonial history, microhistory, translator biography, female agency, Sara Kierstede
Article outline
- Introduction
- Colonial interpreting
- Microhistory and translator biographies
- Sara Kierstede
- Sara Kierstede’s language biography
- Sara Kierstede’s social network and status
- Sara Kierstede’s agency and recognition as an interpreter
- Sara Kierstede’s role as “health knowledge broker”
- Conclusion
-
Notes -
References
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