CfP - Revista de Traductología, 23 (2019): Translation, conflict and symbolic violence

In recent decades, different theoretical trends in Translation Studies have highlighted the ideological implications of translation as a central activity in the construction of cultures and political systems, and in the negotiation of identities; as a social activity both influenced by ever-changing power relationships and contributing to their change; and as a constitutive factor —albeit often an invisible one— in the globalized order of the digital era. Approaching globalization from the perspective of translation makes it possible to understand cultures as constant processes of translation and hybridization, and it also allows us to examine, both from a historical and a contemporary perspective, the role of translation in negative globalized and globalizing phenomena and processes, such as political and armed conflicts, the invisibility or distortion of alterity, and the denial of diversity in plural societies.

The purpose of this dossier of TRANS. Revista de Traductología is, in point of fact, to research the role which has historically been and which is currently being played by translation and interpreting in real contexts marked by either overt or covert hostilities and conflicts, and in a globalized society in which subjectivities, ideologies and cultures do not merely coexist and dialogue, but also clash and compete at the symbolic level of texts and representations. In this regard, this dossier welcomes articles that analyze both the relationship between translation and conflict in a war context, as well as those that focus on the stances and forms which translation adopts or may adopt in situations and contexts marked by the struggle or open hostility between conflicting views of the world —as an ally of totalitarian or exclusionary regimes, or as an opposing force contributing to visualize and denounce atrocity and barbarity— and in the politicized scenarios of professional and institutional contexts.

On the other hand, this dossier will also accept contributions dealing both with the translation of ideology and the ideology of translation when representing difference and diversity in different specialized fields: articles analyzing the political dimension of translation as a tensionridden process which must sometimes deal with the recontextualization of strongly ideological discourses or of social, cultural and identitarian representations; contributions shedding light on those subtle mechanisms through which translation aligns itself with institutionalized patterns of subordination that dehumanize some communities or render them invisible, and through which it acts, either deliberately or unconsciously, as a tool that generates symbolic violence in the (re)construction and negotiation of texts, discourses and identities; articles examining the possibilities of transferring the multidimensional nature of diversity and alterity without resorting to essentializing or stereotyping them; or articles approaching the ethical challenges presented to the translator with regard to the recognition of the plural and ambivalent nature of identities.

In this regard, the aim of the dossier is to collect different theoretical or case studies that contribute to a better understanding of the multiple limitations (epistemological, practical, ethical, etc.) of the often-invoked ideal of neutrality in translation/interpreting in the past and present, but also to explore the theoretical supports and mechanisms which have made and which still make it possible for the translator/interpreter to meet prevailing expectations of professionalism, responsibility and ethical commitment.

Main subject matters in the articles of the dossier:

• Translation/interpreting and translators/interpreters in past and present armed conflicts

• Translation, repression and political violence

• Translation, ideology and political activism

• Translation, identity representation and symbolic violence

• Translation/interpreting and translators/interpreters and the ethical dimension of their professional activity

The articles (of 6000 to 9000 words in length) must follow the publication guidelines of the journal (available at http://www.revistas.uma.es/index.php/trans) and must be submitted according to the instructions provided before July 15, 2018.