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Article In: Translation Spaces: Online-First Articles

Translational encounters in multilingual religioscapes

Issues of materiality and technology

ORCiD logo with link | University of Galway
ORCiD logo with link | Queen’s University Belfast
ORCiD logo with link | University of Galway
ORCiD logo with link | Queen’s University Belfast
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Abstract
This article examines multilingual religious spaces in Galway and Belfast as sites of translational encounter and explores how the material and technological dimensions of translation both emerge from, and enable meaningful interactions within and across, religious spaces serving migrants. Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews, it analyses how material arrangements (spatial layout, acoustics, bodies, devotional objects, and media technologies) shape the conditions for producing, experiencing, and valuing translation. Conceptually grounded in work on religioscapes and materiality, the article argues that translation in these multilingual religious settings is fundamentally multisensory, affective, and relational, embedded in practices of worship, care, and inclusion. By foregrounding translation as a situated practice unfolding through dynamic material and technological configurations, it contributes to debates on materiality and non-professional mediation in contexts of migration, and its focus on religioscapes provides a revealing lens for understanding the complexities, affordances, and limits of translational encounters in everyday life.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Religioscapes, materiality, and assemblages
  • 3.Methodology
  • 4.Between digitisation and material presence: a spectrum of translational effects
  • 5.Spaces, bodies, voices, and objects
  • 6.Institutional and personal reliance on translation technologies
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Author queries
  • References
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