Translating Trauma: David Boder's 1946 Interviews with Holocaust Survivors. (July 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Müller, Beate
• Is Part Of: Translation and literature. Volume 23:Part 2(2014)
• Page Start: 257
• Page End: 271
• Publication Date: 2014-07
• Subjects: David Boder -- Voices Project -- Holocaust testimony -- trauma; Translating and interpreting -- Periodicals; Literature -- Translations into English -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; 418.02
• DOI: 10.3366/tal.2014.0155
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0968-1361

Abstract

Abstract : David Boder's wire-recorded interviews with about 130 displaced persons conducted in 1946 in France, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland – his 'Voices' Project - is the earliest known oral history of Holocaust survivors. Their testimonies were recorded in nine languages, Boder translating as many of them as he could into English, thus turning the original audio files into written documents. The psychologist Boder claimed that the traumatic experiences suffered by his interviewees had patterned their language, something he tried to reflect in what he called 'awkward' translations. However, Boder's desire to identify and transmit trauma-induced linguistic behaviour led to misinterpretations and a failure to understand language choice, rather than language competence, as a sign of trauma.