The reading habits of professional signed and spoken language interpreters

Reading is a critical process for conscious learning and enhancing knowledge; however, little is known about reading in interpreters’ professional lives. We used an online survey to collect information about the reading habits of signed language interpreters (n = 1,382) and spoken language interpreters (n = 601) to examine overall patterns, as well as variations, between the groups. The interpreters responded to questions regarding (a) engagement with reading types, (b) hours spent reading, (c) motivations for reading, (d) factors that reduce engagement in reading, (e) reading in which interpreters should engage, (f) relevance of reading to professional practice, and (g) priority of research topics for reading. Similarities were found between the groups, with divergence in three areas – reading preparation materials, reading research studies, and the types of research studies the participants wish to read. The results provide insights into professional interpreters’ engagement with reading and its application to their professional practice.

Translating in the contact zone

The purpose of this article is to analyze the hybrid language used in the U.S. by a generation who think brown and write brown. I am referring to the so-called one-and-a-halfers, a generation that includes writers such as Gloria Anzaldúa, Cherríe Moraga, Sandra Cisneros, Pat Mora, Ilan Stavans, Ana Lydia Vega, Ana Castillo, Helena Viramontes, Esmeralda Santiago, or Tato Laviera, to name but a few. I aim to analyze how many migrants and refugees use language in a way that destroys consensus. It is in these spaces where the migration movements of the multiple souths talk back in a weird language which the Establishment fears. In these circumstances, translation becomes a tool to raise questions that disturb the universal promises of monolingualism.

Negotiating inclusion of gender and sexual diversity through a process of feminist translation in Quebec

According to French grammatical rules the masculine prevails over the feminine. In Quebec since the 1980s, an inclusive, “non-sexist writing,” aimed at making the feminine visible, has been promoted by women’s activist groups and has been adopted in most governmental publications. Recently, a renewal of the notion of gender manifests itself through an emerging definition of inclusive writing as “neutral writing,” aimed at neutralizing gender in the French language. In this context, a feminist collective has undertaken the translation into French of Our Bodies, Ourselves, a major reference book on sexual and reproductive health. What effects has the coexistence of these two trends of feminist inclusive writing had on the process of constructing and writing this book and on the terminological choices made by the collective of translators? This case study showcases how the translation process opens a space for rethinking linguistic practices around gender.

Translate to resist

The emergence of the LGBTI+ movement has faced considerable challenges in the Turkish sociopolitical context due to the dominance and oppression of the long-established traditional and conservative institutions such as religion, family, and state. In Turkey, translation occupies a central position in the way knowledge is produced and organized to subvert heteronormativity and homo/transphobia, and struggle for rights. LGBTI News Turkey is the most conspicuous LGBTI+ organization in relation to this, since the platform focuses exclusively on translation. I discuss the role of the activist translators in the representation of LGBTI+ individuals globally by constructing a “narrative” (Baker 2006a) for the LGBTI+ community in Turkey. I also elaborate the concepts of fidelity and invisibility within activist translation, and the methods activist-translators employ to create and disseminate a counter narrative against the dominant public narrative, and question how they position themselves in the LGBTI+ movement.