Translation and Democracy

TY - CHAP

T1 - Translation and Democracy

AU - Doerr, Nicole

PY - 2018/1/1

Y1 - 2018/1/1

N2 - Translation’s democratizing potential has been studied by students of comparative literature, social movements, and transnational democracy, but it has received less attention in political theories of democracy. In this contribution, I give a survey of theories of translation and democratic dialogue, drawing on comparative literature; sociology; feminism; psycho logy; and on the philosophy of language, culture, and theories of political participation and social movements. Based on an interdisciplinary perspective of translation in the literature, I will then review existing political science theories of democracy, dialogue and delibe ration. I provide a sociological critique of democratic theories to explore how structural inequality creates conflict and ‘positional’ misunderstandings within culturally diverse settings for democratic dialogue and deliberation in globalized multilingual societies. Last but not least, I review contemporary practices and radical democratic interventions used by volunteer translators and interpreters and by activists and community translators in both local and transnational contexts in order to address power inequality and heterogeneity within contemporary democratic processes. Based on these grassroots democratic practices, I develop an ample, conceptual theory of political translation that goes beyond the interlingual and that connects the work of translators and interpreters on the ground to the critical thinking of Judith Butler, Jessica Benjamin and Jacques Rancière, trying to find pathways for democracy even within contexts of extreme inequality or domination.

AB - Translation’s democratizing potential has been studied by students of comparative literature, social movements, and transnational democracy, but it has received less attention in political theories of democracy. In this contribution, I give a survey of theories of translation and democratic dialogue, drawing on comparative literature; sociology; feminism; psycho logy; and on the philosophy of language, culture, and theories of political participation and social movements. Based on an interdisciplinary perspective of translation in the literature, I will then review existing political science theories of democracy, dialogue and delibe ration. I provide a sociological critique of democratic theories to explore how structural inequality creates conflict and ‘positional’ misunderstandings within culturally diverse settings for democratic dialogue and deliberation in globalized multilingual societies. Last but not least, I review contemporary practices and radical democratic interventions used by volunteer translators and interpreters and by activists and community translators in both local and transnational contexts in order to address power inequality and heterogeneity within contemporary democratic processes. Based on these grassroots democratic practices, I develop an ample, conceptual theory of political translation that goes beyond the interlingual and that connects the work of translators and interpreters on the ground to the critical thinking of Judith Butler, Jessica Benjamin and Jacques Rancière, trying to find pathways for democracy even within contexts of extreme inequality or domination.

U2 - 10.4324/9781315621289

DO - 10.4324/9781315621289

M3 - Book chapter

AN - SCOPUS:85050538337

SN - 9781138657564

SP - 64

EP - 78

BT - The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Politics

A2 - Evans, Jonathan

A2 - Fernandez, Fruela

PB - Routledge

ER -