Event Synopsis
‘Whose Voice is it Anyway? Reflecting on voice of women in a translation and interpreting context’ brought together scholars and interpreters to discuss what happens to the voices of women in translation and interpreting.
The event opened with a presentation by Dr. Şebnem Susam-Saraeva, University of Edinburgh, on interwoven voices in blogs and the role that “mommy bloggers” play in the blogosphere. One of the focuses of blogs is to facilitate community building and, in order to do so, the writing style they employ is often an informal narrative, characterised by humour and levity. It is because of these traits, typical of the oral tradition, that the concept of “digital orality” has been used to describe this form of communication. Dr. Susam-Saraeva discussed the growing presence of “mommy blogs” as a way for women to vent, shout and make their voices heard. In Turkey, women use mommy blogs to oppose the patriarchal society and traditional knowledge passed on by elders and mothers-in-law. It is thanks to the skilful combination of foreign voices, sources and original writing that they are able to do this. The foreign sources are usually translated “unprofessionally” in an effort to render the information accessible to a wider public. Dr. Susam-Saraeva concluded that these non-professional translators and bloggers tend to be innovative and move away from the traditional focus on words and sentences in order to support common causes, such as community building and activism.
Next Dr. Marion Winters, Heriot-Watt University, talked about emigrant voices in autobiographies and their translations. The focus of the presentation was on Memories of a Mischling by Marianne Gilbert Finnegan and its German translation by Renate Orth-Guttmann: Das gab’s nur einmal. Autobiographies are embedded in source cultures and translations try to recreate this connection. However, changes that uproot the source text tend to occur. In the German translation of Marianne Gilbert Finnegan’s book, the paratext reframes the autobiographical “I” and creates a shift from personal to public narrative. The term “michling”, which in Nazi Germany used to denote a person with mixed Aryan and Jewish ancestry, is removed from the target text title. Furthermore, ‘Finnegan’, the author’s married name, does not appear on the German cover. Dr. Winters suggested that two types of narrative are at play here. The first is a move from a personal, autobiographical reading, to a sense of shared experience. The second is the positive notion of the American dream in contrast with a feeling of loss brought by immigration.
The last presentation was given by Dr. Hephzibah Israel, University of Edinburgh, who discussed the subject of offensive voices in Dalit literature. Dr. Israel explained that Dalit is a term that refers to the members of society that are considered so inferior that they are not even included in the Hindu Caste system. Contemporary Tamil Dalit writers use dialect, colloquialisms, profanities and obscenities as an act of intervention that challenges the social caste structure and political oppression. As part of this act of defiance, female Dalit authors often write about their bodies and give detailed descriptions of bodily functions. Translating this literature may also be seen as a bid for agency. These translations are challenging as the translator has to consider carefully the role of vulgarity and offensive language in the target culture and, more often than not, the linguistic register of the source text is lost. Dr. Israel concluded that it is ultimately the translation into English, and then retranslation into various Indian languages, that gives these texts more visibility and political significance.
A question and answer session led by Dr Charlotte Bosseaux followed the talks. The speakers were able to answer the audience’s questions regarding issues such as, the different strategies used by translators when dealing with Dalit literature; the original authors’ acceptance of significant changes made in the paratext; and the reluctance of mommy bloggers to be labelled as translators as opposed to their official profession.
The second part of the event consisted of a conversation on translating women’s voices in the context of gender-based violence. The panel initiating this conversation was made up of: Charlotte Bosseaux (University of Edinburgh), Arantza Elosua (interpreter), Elena Zini (interpreter), Lauren Wilks (University of Edinburgh) and Sweety Sharma (Saheliya).
Working as an interpreter with women who have experienced gender-based violence can be extremely harrowing. The detailed accounts of violence and abuse that the interpreters must repeat in the first person can affect them deeply. Moreover, interpreters are bound by confidentiality and are therefore forced to carry with them the horrific stories they have experienced through the words of the client. Unfortunately, academic study and qualifications do not suffice as methods for training these professionals to deal with the emotional stress that this work involves. Interpreters are rarely briefed on cases before being urgently summoned to work, and they are never debriefed after they have carried out their duties. Due to the nature of the job, the interpreters remain invisible: a medium, a machine that must not show emotion. It was felt that more research and collaboration was needed to help improve not only the situation of victims but also that of interpreters and translators.
The event was met with great success, and highlighted the importance of women’s voices in many different settings, from interpreting for the victims of gender-based-violence to translating mommy blogs and Dalit literature. After the event, the public was presented with refreshments and canapés, and given the opportunity to converse further with the academics, translators and interpreters present at the event.