IN THIS ISSUE...
Editorial
Political and
Cultural Alignments in Translation
Mona Baker, University of Manchester
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 invested in ‘sanitised’ theoretical models and case studies,
generally ironing out the very messy and often traumatic reality of
mediation in translation, and especially in interpreting.
The Right to an Interpreter
and the Right Interpreter
Deborah Cao, Griffith University
Due
to the increased movement of people across national boundaries, more
and more people who come before the court do not speak the language of
the court, be it in the US, Australia or European countries. This
paper
outlines the legal regimes and laws governing the use of
interpreters/translators in legal proceedings. It sets out the legal
platform in international law and briefly surveys the situations in
Europe, Australia, USA, Canada, Hong Kong and China, highlighting the
relevant laws in this area. The paper also raises a number of issues
for further consideration. It discusses whether the right to an
interpreter should include translator and the competence of the court
interpreter/translator and its implications.
Is This Really Translation?
The Case of Arabic Literature in French
Said Faiq, American University of Sharjah
Drawing on the concept
of pseudo-translation, this article presents a reading of Tahar Ben
Jelloun's La Nuit sacrée and its Arabic translation. The main
argument is that, despite its success, particularly in France, La Nuit
sacrée remains essentially a subverted representation of Arab-Islamic
realities and as such it represents a case of invented sources. Likewise,
its Arabic translation employs calculated discursive choices that make it
alien in Arabic. Further, this translation does not seem to serve any
translational mission as an instance of intercultural communication. As
such and like its presumed source, the Arabic translation can only be seen
as a good case of pseudo-translation and not translation.
Attributing Terror:
Evidence on Authorship — A Forensic Translation Analysis of Culturally
Divergent Clandestine Coded Messages
Ali Darwish, Central Queensland University
This paper examines the question of
authorship attribution of translation-mediated texts and more specifically
the messages purported to be those of Osama Bin Laden. Using a three-tier
translation analysis model, the paper explores features of the original
message and several translations to conclude that while Bin Laden may have
been established as the communicator of these messages, he may not have
been the sole author of the messages. This is a bold claim that is
supported by a forensic translation analysis that proves beyond reasonable
doubt that external linguistic and cultural influences have contributed to
authorship.
Questioning in Common Law
Criminal Courts
John Gibbons and Ester S. M. Leung
University of New South Wales and Hong Kong Baptist University
In their most basic forms, questions occur
when the questioner seeks a piece of information that the questioner does
not have, and the answerer does have, that is, questions are a request for
information. This definition implies two types of relationship between the
questioner and respondent: a social relationship in which the questioner
may make requests, and an information relationship involving shared and
unshared knowledge. This most basic use of questions, for instance in
everyday speech, generally assumes first a social relationship that
permits the request but does not demand a reply, and second that the
respondent has access to a piece of information that the questioner does
not have.
Country Report
Legal Interpreting
in the Solomon Islands
Connie Bisili and Leong Ko,
Queensland University
Unlike other countries where legal
interpreting usually develops from a broad basis in community
interpreting, in the Solomon Islands legal interpreting was introduced and
developed in its own right without almost any other points of reference.
This country report examines a number of issues the interpreters in the
Solomon Islands have come across in their work — issues affecting their
role as interpreters.
