Cover not available
Article published In:
Target
Vol. 30:2 (2018) ► pp.187–211

Walking the tightrope

The role of Peruvian indigenous interpreters in prior consultation processes

ORCID logo | Heriot-Watt University
 | Newcastle University
 | Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
The passing of the Prior Consultation Act (2011) was a turning point in Peru’s history: it enshrined the right of indigenous peoples to be consulted prior to the State’s adopting a measure that affects them and to use their own languages during the consultation, which makes interpreting essential. This article focuses on the complexities of the interpreters’ role and how the beneficiaries of their work perceive it. It reveals that the interpreters’ performance is determined by two circumstances: first, it straddles public service and business interpreting; and second, the fact that the interpreters are trained and employed by the State creates tensions in the communication between the latter and the indigenous peoples. The socio-political context and the initiatives designed to ensure compliance with the law will provide a background to our findings. These derive from observation, interviews and meetings with institutional actors and interpreters, and are illustrated by a case study.
Keywords: indigenous interpreters, prior consultation, Peru, users’ expectations
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Prior consultation and interpreter training in Peru
  • 3.Public service interpreting vs. business interpreting
  • 4.Research methods
  • 5.The role of the interpreter in prior consultation processes
    • 5.1Specific challenges
    • 5.2Facing a clash of codes
    • 5.3Case study: interpreters as “impartial allies”
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 2 May 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.17009.dep
References (33)
References
Andrade Ciudad, Luis, Rosaleen Howard, and Raquel de Pedro Ricoy. Forthcoming. “Activismo, derechos lingüísticos e ideologías: la traducción e interpretación en lenguas originarias en el Perú.” Indiana.
Bebbington, Anthony, Martin Scurrah, and Anahí Chaparro. 2013. “Minería, conflictividad y la política: ¿algo cambia?” Revista Argumentos 7 (5): 2–6. [URL].
Berk-Seligson, Susan. 1990. The Bilingual Courtroom: Court Interpreters in the Judicial Process. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bonilla Maldonado, Daniel, ed. 2013. Constitutionalism of the Global South: The Activist Tribunals of India, South Africa and Colombia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cariño, Joji. 2005. “Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Free, Prior, Informed Consent: Reflections on Concepts and Practice.” Arizona Journal of International & Comparative Law 22 (1): 19–39.Google Scholar
Congreso de la República del Perú. 2011. “Ley del derecho a la consulta previa a los pueblos indígenas u originarios.” El Peruano 6 September 2011.Google Scholar
Corsellis, Ann. 2005. “Training Interpreters to Work in the Public Services.” In Training for the New Millennium: Pedagogies for Translation and Interpreting, edited by Martha Tennent, 153–173. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De la Puente Luna, José Carlos. 2014. “The Many Tongues of the King: Indigenous Language Interpreters and the Making of the Spanish Empire.” Colonial Latin American Review 23 (2): 143–170. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Pedro Ricoy, Raquel. 2017. “To Interview or Not to Interview. A Critical Approach to Assessing End-Users’ Perceptions of the Role of 21st-Century Indigenous Interpreters in Peru.” International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research 9 (1): 36–50. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Pedro Ricoy, Raquel, Rosaleen Howard, and Luis Andrade. 2018. “Translators’ Perspectives: The Construction of the Peruvian Languages Act in Indigenous Languages.” Meta 63 (2).Google Scholar
DPLF/OXFAM. n.d. The Right of Indigenous Peoples to Prior Consultation. The Situation in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Executive Summary. Accessed November 26, 2016. [URL]
Ferri Carreres, Natividad. 2014. “Feudalism and the Integration of the Native Peoples of Peru in the Worldwide Economy.” In Globalization and “Minority” Cultures, edited by Sophie Croisy, 139–159. Leiden: Brill Nijhoff. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fossa, Lydia. 2006. Narrativas problemáticas: los inkas bajo la pluma española. Lima: Fondo Editorial de la PUCP, Instituto de Estudios Peruanos.Google Scholar
Gile, Daniel. 1995. Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator Training. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hale, Sandra B. 1996. “Pragmatic Considerations in Court Interpreting.” Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 19 (1): 61–72. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2007. Community Interpreting. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Howard, Rosaleen, Raquel de Pedro Ricoy, and Luis Andrade. 2018. “Translation Policy and Indigenous Languages in Hispanic Latin America.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2511: 19-36. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Howard, Rosaleen, Luis Andrade, and Raquel de Pedro Ricoy. 2018. “Translating Rights: the Peruvian Languages Act in Quechua and Aymara.” Amerindia 401: 219–245.Google Scholar
Inghilleri, Moira. 2012. Interpreting Justice: Ethics, Politics and Language. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ministerio de Cultura. 2014. Base de datos de pueblos indígenas u originarios. Accessed 8 December, 2016. [URL]
O’Diana Rocca, Richard A., Adda Chuecas Cabrera, and Ismael Vega Díaz. 2015. Analísis de la aplicación de la consulta previa. Lima: CAAAP. Accessed November 15, 2016. [URL]
Ozolins, Uldis. 2014. “Descriptions of Interpreting and Their Ethical Consequences.” FITISPos International Journal 1 (1): 23–41. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Quijano, Aníbal. 2014. “Colonialidad del poder y clasificación social.” In Aníbal Quijano. Cuestiones y horizontes. De la dependencia histórico-estructural a la colonialidad / descolonialidad del poder. Antología esencial, edited by Danilo Assis Clímaco, 285–327. Buenos Aires: CLACSO.Google Scholar
Ramos, Gabriela. 2011. “Language and Society in Early Colonial Peru.” In History and Language in the Andes, edited by Paul Heggarty and Adrian J. Pearce, 19–38. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reddy, Michael J. 1979. “The Conduit Metaphor: A Case of Frame Conflict in Our Language about Language.” In Metaphor and Thought, edited by Andrew Ortony, 284–310. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Takimoto, Masato. 2006. “Interpreters’ Role Perceptions in Business Dialogue Interpreting Situations.” Monash University Linguistics Papers 5 (1): 47–57. [URL]
. 2015. “Business Interpreting.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Interpreting Studies, edited by Franz Pöchhacker, 38–40. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Townsley, Brooke, ed. 2016. Understanding Justice: An Enquiry into Interpreting in Civil Justice and Mediation. London: Middlesex University. Accessed June 4, 2017. [URL]
Valdeón, Roberto A. 2014. Translation and the Spanish Empire in the Americas. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vega Auqui, Yohannaliz Y. 2016. Encuentros y desencuentros de discursos sobre la consulta previa a pueblos indígenas: experiencia a partir de su implementación en el Perú. MSc diss. PUCP. Accessed November 15, 2016. [URL]
Wadensjö, Cecilia. 1998. Interpreting as Interaction. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Ward, Tara. 2011. “The Right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent: Indigenous Peoples’ Participation Rights within International Law.” Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights 10 (2): 54–84.Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Bowen, Alex
2021. Intercultural translation of vague legal language. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies 33:2 ► pp. 308 ff. DOI logo
de Pedro Ricoy, Raquel, Rosaleen Howard, Raquel Reynoso & Luis Andrade Ciudad
2021. “Nosotras le llamamosacompañamiento”: las dirigentas quechuas y aimaras del sur peruano y la interpretaciónad hoc. Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies 16:1 ► pp. 63 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 10 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.