Representing experiential knowledge: Who may translate whom?. Issue 1 (2nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Susam-Saraeva, Şebnem
• Is Part Of: Translation studies. Volume 14:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 84
• Page End: 95
• Publication Date: 2021-01-02
• Subjects: Representation -- experiential knowledge -- ethics -- translation -- interpreting; Translating and interpreting -- Periodicals; 418.0205
• DOI: 10.1080/14781700.2020.1846606
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1478-1700

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This provocation piece discusses the difficulties of translating texts based on experiential and corporeal knowledge. Personal narratives often comprise such knowledge; therefore, their interpretation and rendering in other languages give rise to some controversial questions. For instance, do we need translators/interpreters with supposedly "analogous" life experiences to source authors/speakers? Who has "the right" to translate/interpret/represent whom? In this contribution, these questions are elaborated on by using the concepts 'secondary-witness' and 'debriefing', as well as examples from research on translation of childbirth narratives and recent debates in the film industry regarding representation.