Narrative Communities in Translation Studies Essay Example for Free

Narrative Communities in Translation Studies Essay An elaborate network of translators, called Babels, volunteers from all over Europe, sat in little boxes translating the cries against imperialism, capitalism, colonialism and occupation into English, French, Spanish, German,Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic and Ð ° plethora of other languages including Euskera. It has been suggested by the Fisher that communication transactions are responsible for the co-constitution of the communities, in which a story with the coherence and fidelity for the life is co-authored by the participants. In this regard, two types of community have been suggested by the Fisher. Concession or conformity creates the first type of community, and election or conversion creates the second type of community. In this regard, in the world of translation, concession or conformity has created a number of examples of communities. Today, several professional and academic associations are boasted by most countries, whether in professional or academic circles, by which different types of platforms for the conduction of communication transactions for the support of such communities are provided by it. See more: what is a narrative essay However, the most urgent needs of our time are responded by the emerging pattern of communities arguably, as civility, intellectual, and moral forms of community are sustained by their potential. Members of these translation communities recognize that the concrete experiences of our lives cannot be changed without simultaneously changing the narratives that underpin them. Such translators also recognize that the intersections between the narratives of our lives and those of other peoples in other parts of the world are much denser and more heavily mediated today than at any other time in history. Today s conflicts reverberate across the planet and, almost without exception, are played out in the international arena. The Middle East and Chechen conflicts, for instance, cannot be resolved by appealing only to local constituencies in the United States, Israel, Palestine, or Russia, to suggest obvious examples. Competing narratives of such conflicts circulate in all the widely spoken and many of the less widely spoken languages of the world-largely in and through translation. Already Ð ° number of communities by election or conversion are operating in the world of professional translation and interpreting, as І noted at the beginning of this article. For example, Traduttori par la Pace/Translators for Peace describes itself as Ð ° free association of translators from all countries and of all nationalities . . . established in order to publish, as tar as possible in every language and by whatever channel, every message against: war in general; and in particular, against the use of war as Ð ° means of resolving international disputes. The association is based in Italy with some 3UO members, mostly Italian; Italian is the main language of the discussion group. It was founded in 1999 at the start of the war in Kosovo. one of the founding members, Andrea Spila, explains the origins of the group as follows. Translators for Peace were established with the intent of translating articles and documents which did not appear in the Italian press at the time. Five years (and many wars) later we are working in Ð ° different way. our activity is mainly to help civil society organizations to spread their peace message and we help them by translating their documents/websites etc. and by supplying interpreters for conferences, meetings etc. We also translate documents we believe people should know, for example we translated the documents of the neo-con organization Project for Ð ° New American Century because it describes exactly what is happening now, I. e. US supremacy worldwide by means of preventive war. ECOS, Traductores e Interprets por la Solidaridad, was set up in 1998 by members of the staff at the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting at the University of Granada, Spain, and is still based there. The association offers volunteer translation and interpreting for NGos, social forums, and other nonprofit organizations, but most of its work comes from NGos in Granada, including anti-cancer groups, the Granada section of the Human Rights Association of Andalusia, and AKIBA (the association of support for Black Africa) The aim of ECOS is to work for Ð ° better quality of life for certain social sectors, and to struggle against the injustices of the established system. Its founders also believe that translators and interpreters must be trained for society and not just for the market. In addition to volunteer translation and interpreting, members of the association also organize talks to raise awareness about contemporary social questions, including fair trade and the situations in Iraq and the Middle East. Babels are Ð ° larger and more structured community of volunteer translators and interpreters. Its activist profile is broader than that of Translators for Peace and other existing associations in the field. The groups agenda is not restricted to the issues pertaining to war, and both the range of activities undertaken and the locations of activity are more varied. Moreover, the composition of the group itself is broader, with members in many different parts of the world. The plural form Babels is meant to underline the supranational character of the association, as their website indicates. Babels was set up in September 2oo2 by Ð ° group of activists linked to the French branch of the alternative globalization network, ATTAC, to meet the translation and interpreting needs of the European Social Forum (ESF) in Florence. The groups debut in Florence featured 35o volunteer translators and interpreters working without Ð ° budget and without even basic facilities such as computers and telephones. The success and dedication of the group and their effective participation in the conferences opposing the G8 in Evian and Annemasse in May and June 2oo3, however, convinced the Paris ESF organizers to give them decent facilities and the relatively large sum of ? 2oo,ooo to prepare for the next forum. This investment seems to have paid off because the Paris ESF held in 2oo3 was serviced by more than 1ooo Babelitos drawn from Ð ° volunteer pool four times that number. By the time the London ESF was held in october 2oo4, the Babels database included over 7ooo volunteers representing 63 languages.