The connection between translation and migration is a growing area of interest in Translation Studies. This increase in attention is due to a combination of factors. On the one hand, it is a consequence of the marked visibility of migration phenomena in the contemporary world and of the centrality they have acquired in the social, economic and political spheres. On the other, it is also the result of theoretical moves which have shifted the focus of Translation Studies towards cultural phenomena (see The turns of Translation Studies), the political and ethical dimensions of translation, as well as issues of power, agency and visibility. A parallel move, directly linked to language practices connected to migration, is also leading to broader definitions of translation, expanding strictly linear conceptions of the process (understood as a shift from Source to Target Language, Text and Culture), in order to encompass phenomena such as plurilingualism, heterolingualism and self- or auto-translation (Tymoczko 2006; Grutman 2006; Cronin 2006; Polezzi 2012). This move is having an impact both on macro-conceptualizations of translation (for instance, in the area of sociology of translation) and on micro-analytical approaches (such as the analysis of translation strategies). Current work on translation and migration draws on research in areas such as ethnography, post-colonial studies, globalization, or cultural translation, and it has direct links with language politics and policies, as well as with developing fields such as community interpreting (Wadensjö 1998) or with the role of interpreting and translation practices within social movements (Doerr 2012).

References

Agamben, Giorgio

1998 Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. [Trans. Daniel Heller-Roazen].

Appadurai, Arjun

2004 Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis/London: University of Minnesota Press.

Asad, Talal

1986 “The concept of cultural translation in British social anthropology.” In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, James Clifford & George E. Marcus (eds), 141–64. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press.  TSB

Baker, Mona

2006 Translation and Conflict: A Narrative Account. London/New York: Routledge.  BoP

Cronin, Michael

2006 Translation and Identity. London/New York: Routledge.  BoP

Doerr, Nicole

2012 “Translating democracy: How activists in the European Social Forum practice multilingual deliberation.” European Political Science Review. Available on CJO 2012 doi:10.1017/S1755773911000312.

Foucault, Michel

1998 The Will to Knowledge. London: Penguin. [Trans. Robert Hurley].

Gentzler, Edwin

2008 Translation and Identity in the Americas: New Directions in Translation Theory. London/New York: Routledge  BoP

Grutman, Rainier

2006 “Refraction and recognition: Literary multilingualism in translation.” Target 18 (1): 17–47.  BoP

Papastergiadis, Nikos

2000 The Turbulence of Migration: Globalization, Deterritorialization and Hybridity. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Polezzi, Loredana

2012 “Translation and migration.” Translation Studies 5 (3): 346–57.  TSB

Pratt, Mary Louise

2010 “Response.” Translation Studies 3 (1): 94–97.

Sakai, Naoki

1997 Translation and Subjectivity: On Japan and Cultural Nationalism. Minneapolis/London: University of Minnesota Press.  TSB

Tymoczko, Maria

2006 “Reconceptualizing Western translation theory: Integrating non-western thought about translation.” In Translating Others, Theo Hermans (ed.), vol. 1, 13–32. Manchester: St Jerome.  TSB

Vertovec, Steven & Robin Cohen

(eds) 2002 Conceiving Cosmopolitanism: Theory, Context, and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wadensjö, Cecilia

1998 Interpreting as Interaction. London: Longman.  BoP

Further essential reading

Cronin, Michael

2003 Translation and Globalization. London/New York: Routledge.  BoP

Polezzi, Loredana

(ed.) 2006  Translation, Travel, Migration . Special issue of The Translator 12 (2).  TSB