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Figures of Interpretation

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Abstract

This ground-breaking book assembles 31 portraits of people who interpret languages, cultures and situations, and offers graphic interpretations of their collective experience. Their individual stories are part of the larger history of interpreters, interpretation and interpretive readings, and they demonstrate how language intersects with race, class, gender and geopolitical inequalities. The book allows the unexpected to unfold by passing control from the writers to the reader, who will see connections and ruptures unfold between space, time and class while never losing sight of the materiality of living. Together and individually, the portraits tell a powerful story about the structure of contemporary society and the hierarchical distributions of power that permeate our lives.
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Random Table of Contents 1
(names of the figures of interpretation drawn out of a hat by the editors)
NAVIGATING
FIGURES OF INTERPRETATION
............................................. 12
By B.A.S.S. Meier-Lorente-Muth-Duchêne 12
SAEED ..................................................................................................................... 143
by Beatriz Lorente 143
TULAY ..................................................................................................................... 153
by Tulay Caglitutuncigil 153
MANU ....................................................................................................................... 99
by Sabine Lehner 99
DARKO ...................................................................................................................... 65
by Stefanie Meier 65
Illustration 4 ............................................................................................................................................................ 73
by Nino Paula Bulling
ANTOINE ................................................................................................................. 32
by Alexandre Duchêne 32
PETER ..................................................................................................................... 123
by Mi-Cha Flubacher 123
BINTOU AND ALAIN ............................................................................................. 50
by Natalie Tarr 50
Illustration 7 .......................................................................................................................................................... 117
by Nino Paula Bulling
NIMA ........................................................................................................................ 113
By Nima Jebelli and Sibo Kanobana 113
SANDRA .................................................................................................................. 149
by Verena Krausneker and Sandra Schügerl 149
CONRAD ................................................................................................................... 54
by Aneta Pavlenko 54
ROLAND ................................................................................................................. 137
by Ebenezer Tedjouong 137
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NON ......................................................................................................................... 119
By Priscilla Angela T. Cruz 119
ILONA ....................................................................................................................... 9 1
By Dina Bolocan 91
QUINTUS ............................................................................................................... 133
by Rachel Mairs 133
DANIEL .................................................................................................................... 61
by Maya Muratov 61
EVANS* ..................................................................................................................... 75
By Carmen Delgado Luchner 75
PIA ........................................................................................................................... 126
by Kamilla Kraft 126
Illustration 5 ............................................................................................................................................................ 89
by Nino Paula Bulling
ENRIQUE ................................................................................................................. 69
by Carla M. Pacis 69
MME T., JANET, GINNY, LYNN, MASHA, ANNA, PAULETTE & MONICA
.................................................................................................................................. 105
By Monica Heller 105
FATIMA ..................................................................................................................... 81
By Inmaculada Garcia-Sanchez 81
YENNY .................................................................................................................... 161
by Jorge Alvis 161
GOOGLE TRANSLATE .......................................................................................... 85
by Stefan Vollmer 85
YANG ....................................................................................................................... 15 6
by Biao Xiang 156
Illustration 8 .......................................................................................................................................................... 131
by Nino Paula Bulling
Illustration 6 .......................................................................................................................................................... 103
by Nino Paula Bulling
AÏCHA ....................................................................................................................... 18
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By Aïcha and Maria Rosa Garrido Sardà 18
ARNALDO ................................................................................................................ 36
By Arnaldo Bernabe Jr. 36
Illustration 3 ............................................................................................................................................................ 59
by Nino Paula Bulling
AN CHA..................................................................................................................... 26
By Mi-Cha Flubacher 26
NARENDRA ........................................................................................................... 109
By Sebastian Muth 109
Illustration 9 .......................................................................................................................................................... 147
by Nino Paula Bulling
AIJAN AND KATHLEEN ........................................................................................ 22
by Kathleen Painter 22
Illustration 1 ............................................................................................................................................................ 30
by Nino Paula Bulling
AROKIAM AND THE UNNAMED CATECHIST ................................................ 40
by Shanthini Pillai 40
Illustration 2 ............................................................................................................................................................ 44
by Nino Paula Bulling
JULDÉ ....................................................................................................................... 95
by Carlos Pestana 95
Illustration 10 ........................................................................................................................................................ 167
by Nino Paula Bulling
BERNARDINO ........................................................................................................ 46
by Bernardino Tavares 46
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Random Table of Contents 2
(names of the figures of interpretation in alphabetical order)
NAVIGATING
FIGURES OF INTERPRETATION
............................................. 12
By B.A.S.S. Meier-Lorente-Muth-Duchêne 12
AÏCHA ....................................................................................................................... 18
By Aïcha and Maria Rosa Garrido Sardà 18
AIJAN AND KATHLEEN ........................................................................................ 22
by Kathleen Painter 22
AN CHA..................................................................................................................... 26
By Mi-Cha Flubacher 26
Illustration 1 ........................................................................................................................................................ 30
by Nino Paula Bulling
ANTOINE ................................................................................................................. 32
by Alexandre Duchêne 32
ARNALDO ................................................................................................................ 36
By Arnaldo Bernabe Jr. 36
AROKIAM AND THE UNNAMED CATECHIST ................................................ 40
by Shanthini Pillai 40
Illustration 2 ........................................................................................................................................................ 44
by Nino Paula Bulling
BERNARDINO ........................................................................................................ 46
by Bernardino Tavares 46
BINTOU AND ALAIN ............................................................................................. 50
by Natalie Tarr 50
CONRAD ................................................................................................................... 54
by Aneta Pavlenko 54
Illustration 3 ........................................................................................................................................................ 59
by Nino Paula Bulling
DANIEL .................................................................................................................... 61
by Maya Muratov 61
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DARKO ...................................................................................................................... 65
by Stefanie Meier 65
ENRIQUE ................................................................................................................. 69
by Carla M. Pacis 69
Illustration 4 ........................................................................................................................................................ 73
by Nino Paula Bulling
EVANS* ..................................................................................................................... 75
By Carmen Delgado Luchner 75
FATIMA ..................................................................................................................... 81
By Inmaculada Garcia-Sanchez 81
GOOGLE TRANSLATE .......................................................................................... 85
by Stefan Vollmer 85
Illustration 5 ........................................................................................................................................................ 89
by Nino Paula Bulling
ILONA ....................................................................................................................... 9 1
By Dina Bolocan 91
JULDÉ ....................................................................................................................... 95
by Carlos Pestana 95
MANU ....................................................................................................................... 99
by Sabine Lehner 99
Illustration 6 ...................................................................................................................................................... 103
by Nino Paula Bulling
MME T., JANET, GINNY, LYNN, MASHA, ANNA, PAULETTE & MONICA
.................................................................................................................................. 105
By Monica Heller 105
NARENDRA ........................................................................................................... 109
By Sebastian Muth 109
NIMA ........................................................................................................................ 113
By Nima Jebelli and Sibo Kanobana 113
Illustration 7 ...................................................................................................................................................... 117
by Nino Paula Bulling
NON ......................................................................................................................... 119
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By Priscilla Angela T. Cruz 119
PETER ..................................................................................................................... 123
by Mi-Cha Flubacher 123
PIA ........................................................................................................................... 126
by Kamilla Kraft 126
Illustration 8 ...................................................................................................................................................... 131
by Nino Paula Bulling
QUINTUS ............................................................................................................... 133
by Rachel Mairs 133
ROLAND ................................................................................................................. 137
by Ebenezer Tedjouong 137
SAEED ..................................................................................................................... 143
by Beatriz Lorente 143
Illustration 9 ...................................................................................................................................................... 147
by Nino Paula Bulling
SANDRA .................................................................................................................. 149
by Verena Krausneker and Sandra Schügerl 149
TULAY ..................................................................................................................... 153
by Tulay Caglitutuncigil 153
YANG ....................................................................................................................... 15 6
by Biao Xiang 156
YENNY .................................................................................................................... 161
by Jorge Alvis 161
Illustration 10 .......................................................................................................................................... 167
by Nino Paula Bulling
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Random Table of Contents 3
(favorite or current laundry detergent of the authors in reverse alphabetical order)
NAVIGATING FIGURES OF INTERPRETATION ............................................. 12
By B.A.S.S. Meier-Lorente-Muth-Duchêne 12
ARNALDO ................................................................................................................ 36
By Arnaldo Bernabe Jr. (TIDE) 36
AROKIAM AND THE UNNAMED CATECHIST ................................................ 40
by Shanthini Pillai (The Truly Loving Company Malaysia) 40
FATIMA ..................................................................................................................... 81
By Inmaculada Garcia-Sanchez (Seventh Generation -- Free & Clear ) 81
NARENDRA ........................................................................................................... 109
By Sebastian Muth (Pulver) 109
AÏCHA ....................................................................................................................... 18
By Aïcha and Maria Rosa Garrido Sardà (Prown) 18
AN CHA..................................................................................................................... 26
By Mi-Cha Flubacher (Plante Pure Bio Waschmittel Lavendel) 26
PETER ..................................................................................................................... 123
by Mi-Cha Flubacher (Plante Pure Bio Waschmittel Lavendel) 123
JULDÉ ....................................................................................................................... 95
by Carlos Pestana (M-Classic) 95
DARKO ...................................................................................................................... 65
by Stefanie Meier (M-Budget) 65
EVANS* ..................................................................................................................... 75
By Carmen Delgado Luchner (Migros Plus Oeco Power) 75
AIJAN AND KATHLEEN ........................................................................................ 22
by Kathleen Painter (LOTOS) 22
GOOGLE TRANSLATE .......................................................................................... 85
by Stefan Vollmer (Grüner Frosch) 85
Illustration 1 .............................................................................................................................................. 30
by Nino Paula Bulling (Frosch Zitrone)
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Illustration 2 .............................................................................................................................................. 44
by Nino Paula Bulling (Frosch Zitrone)
Illustration 3 .............................................................................................................................................. 59
by Nino Paula Bulling (Frosch Zitrone)
Illustration 4 .............................................................................................................................................. 73
by Nino Paula Bulling (Frosch Zitrone)
Illustration 5 .............................................................................................................................................. 89
by Nino Paula Bulling (Frosch Zitrone)
Illustration 6 ............................................................................................................................................ 103
by Nino Paula Bulling (Frosch Zitrone)
Illustration 7 ............................................................................................................................................ 117
by Nino Paula Bulling (Frosch Zitrone)
Illustration 8 ............................................................................................................................................ 131
by Nino Paula Bulling (Frosch Zitrone)
Illustration 9 ............................................................................................................................................ 147
by Nino Paula Bulling (Frosch Zitrone)
Illustration 10 .......................................................................................................................................... 167
by Nino Paula Bulling (Frosch Zitrone)
BINTOU AND ALAIN ............................................................................................. 50
by Natalie Tarr (Frosch Aloe Vera) 50
YENNY .................................................................................................................... 161
by Jorge Alvis (FAB) 161
SAEED ..................................................................................................................... 143
by Beatriz Lorente (Elan Summer Breeze) 143
ILONA ....................................................................................................................... 9 1
By Dina Bolocan (Ecover Held) 91
SANDRA .................................................................................................................. 149
by Verena Krausneker and Sandra Schügerl (Ecover) 149
DANIEL .................................................................................................................... 61
by Maya Muratov (Ecos) 61
MANU ....................................................................................................................... 99
by Sabine Lehner (Denk mit Waschmittel) 99
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NIMA ........................................................................................................................ 113
By Nima Jebelli and Sibo Kanobana (Dash 1 in 3) 113
BERNARDINO ........................................................................................................ 46
by Bernardino Tavares (Dash) 46
ENRIQUE ................................................................................................................. 69
by Carla M. Pacis (Downy Sunrise Fresh) 69
ANTOINE ................................................................................................................. 32
by Alexandre Duchêne (Comfort) 32
NON ......................................................................................................................... 119
By Priscilla Angela T. Cruz (Breeze) 119
TULAY ..................................................................................................................... 153
by Tulay Caglitutuncigil (Bingo) 153
MME T., JANET, GINNY, LYNN, MASHA, ANNA, PAULETTE & MONICA
.................................................................................................................................. 105
By Monica Heller (Artic Power) 105
CONRAD ................................................................................................................... 54
by Aneta Pavlenko (Arm & Hammer) 54
YANG ....................................................................................................................... 15 6
by Biao Xiang (Ariel) 156
ROLAND ................................................................................................................. 137
by Ebenezer Tedjouong (Ariel) 137
QUINTUS ............................................................................................................... 133
by Rachel Mairs (Ariel) 133
PIA ........................................................................................................................... 126
by Kamilla Kraft (Änglamark) 126
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DIY ToC
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Navigating
Figures of interpretation
By B.A.S.S. Meier-Lorente-Muth-Duchêne
There was slight indignation on Dr. Marc’s face as he described his role as an interpreter at
a radio-oncological clinic in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Dr. Marc is a medical
doctor by profession and is employed as such at the clinic. Yet, his biography made him
multilingual, having grown up in Luxembourg speaking Luxembourgish and French, and
learning German and English as well. As an adult, he also learned Italian, his wife’s first
language, making him proficient in three of the most widely used languages in Switzerland.
This was an important asset for his employers. Dr. Marc, however, did not see the linguistic
accommodation of the clinic’s patients as falling within his responsibility as a medical
professional. He seemed unhappy about how his employer strategically used his language
skills, an area of expertise that he believed to be beneath his qualifications.
A group of scholars investigating the role of language in the healthcare marketplace
Switzerland, we were seated around a small table in an office discussing Dr. Marc’s
experience. We were struck by Dr. Marc’s reaction to his language work, how he seemed to
perceive it as unbefitting of his qualifications. This feeling stood in stark contrast to other
people we met at the clinic: secretaries, medical assistants or cleaners. Most of them talked
about instances where they had tried to accommodate patients with their linguistic skills, and
while these were challenging experiences for some, none of them framed these instances as
a waste of their working time. The difference in power, relating to a person’s status as well
as their economic means, seems to affect how people value their possible involvement in
linguistic facilitation and their willingness to do such work. It is this connection that
demanded a deeper and more intricate understanding of the practice of interpretation. Dr.
Marc stood at the beginning of our journey to collect ”figures of interpretation” - portraits
of people who interpret. We had set out by investigating the Swiss healthcare market, where
we could observe different and differing processes, but the conspicuous omnipresence and
invisibility of interpretation surfaced in all of our narratives.
Similarities and ruptures unfolded as we discussed and contemplated other people
we have met; people who acted as professional interpreters in courtrooms or in the migration
regime; others who interpreted as part of their job - as a luggage carrier at an international
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airport or as a secretary for a multi-national company; and yet others who interpreted
informally - within a community that organized itself on social media or amongst prison
inmates. We felt that their narratives, their practices, their affective responses and material
living conditions intricately told us about structures of society, about hierarchical
distributions of power permeating everyday life. Interpreters have accompanied expanding
empires and colonial conquerors; they have been essential for trade and indispensable for
military negotiations amongst potential allies; they have been crucial for missionary work
(sometimes being both missionary and interpreter) and have helped maintain, as well as
disrupt, the reign of those in power. In contemporary, capitalist society, interpretation has
become increasingly standardized and professionalized: on the one hand, there are courses
and certificates for people entering paid work in translation and interpretation, while on the
other hand, additional qualifications are also offered to wage laborers of other professions,
who may be encouraged or even obliged to go through such training to improve their skills.
At the same time, this professionalization is contrasted with the exploitation of the linguistic
skills of other wage laborers.
We struggled to find a format that would give space to and produce knowledge about
such individual experiences entwined in larger socioeconomic and political processes, to find
other ways of writing, distinct from peer-reviewed articles that rely on theory, methodology
and the usual claim to authorship of countable publications on which academic careers are
built. We felt the need to write in a different form and came up with the idea of short
portraits: stories of people and of their practices of interpretation. So we set out in search of
such “figures of interpretation,” in different geographical, social and professional places and
across time. We thought of colleagues and friends who might have something to tell, who
have encountered such figures or might know other people who could contribute. As the
figures arrived, we found that they addressed new issues, indicated different perspectives,
and served as our orientation for reaching out to other potential authors. And as we received
them, we found the collection increasingly multifaceted, fascinating and challenging.
Figures are real people and every real person can be a figure. The understanding of
individuals as figures opens a perspective on an individual’s life experience that reveals
seemingly impersonal conditions of a particular time and place. In this vein, this book
assembles historical and contemporary portraits of people who interpret and describes their
material living conditions and experiences – a collection that allows us to access and better
understand larger structural processes through the singularity of individual trajectories.
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And so, we met again in the same office where we started to think about Dr. Marc,
piles of paper on the table between us with contributions provided by sociolinguists, social
scientists, historians, anthropologists and interpreters. Many shared our interest, had been
equally struck by the omnipresence and invisibility of interpretation and the people who
provide it. For some, it was only our call for contributions that had made them realize that
their informants - themselves or one of their family members - were even engaged in
interpretive language work. Many contributors enjoyed the unfamiliar approach to academic
knowledge production and were intrigued to write about people they encountered in real life
or in archives, whose experiences, they felt, needed to be told and collectively assembled.
Some were also puzzled or worried about venturing outside the comfort zone of academic
ductus by writing this way.
We were absorbed in thought, our eyes moving between the different portraits we
received, trying to see patterns: we discussed a Roman soldier in what would be present-day
Slovakia, then turned to a Spanish-speaking person who, 2000 years later, provided ad hoc
translation between the police and pedestrians entangled in a dispute. The intricate details of
the personal lives of people who share only the element of interpreting in their life
trajectories, the similar, diverging or even conflicting experiences and narratives, were
overwhelming.
Our struggle with finding common threads between these figures, with
understanding what their collective assemblage uncovered, brought us to an image – the
image of a coffee cup tumbling over, a material obstacle that gives way and coffee that spills
over the assembled documents, fast at first, then as a trickle, immediately drying in some
places, resting in pools in others. As the mess spreads out, a map unfolds, connecting figures
of interpretation and their narrators through space and time. The coffee does not spill
randomly but follows gravity, textures and ruptures in the paper, over and around objects
placed on the table. The map that starts to show the connections between the figures of
interpretation is not random either: the paths run along inclinations and tendencies that are
shaped by systems of power built on exploitation and domination. The lines show
continuities in why people interpret or become interpreters. What seems random from the
perspective of the individual is connected to political forces surrounding them. We can see
this in the example of Enrique, Magellan’s slave, who accompanied him on his conquests,
and who suddenly found himself in the role of the interpreter as they sailed into waters
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unexplored by the Western conquistadors, where people unexpectedly spoke in words he
could understand; Nima, a present-day Iranian immigrant in the Netherlands, who faced
difficulties in finding work in the racist labor market, but became a much sought-after
interpreter when war made people whose language he understood seek refuge; or Narendra,
an Indian who, years after he was urged to acquire Russian skills because of India’s close ties
with the Soviet Union, was able to access them when Russian-speaking medical tourists
became a market in his home country. The map also depicts the physical and emotional
dangers that often accompany interpretation and the people providing it. Such was the case
of Conrad, a German immigrant during the colonization of what would become the US, who
had to fight for his life against the harsh climate while hiking for many days to settlements
of the Mohawk, whose language he spoke; Tulay, a young, female interpreter who had to
negotiate her role in a highly patriarchal setting marked by political conflict on a state visit of
Turkey to an African country; or Bintou, a court interpreter in Burkina Faso, who struggled
with the emotional toll when she had to translate the narrative of a child who was sexually
abused. The lines also reveal continuities and ruptures in the way interpreters navigate their
own roles - as representatives, as mere transmitters in a communicative event or as actors
who can filter and steer the exchange. This emerges in the stories of Non, a Japanese
interpreter and businesswoman in the Philippines, who emphasizes the likeness of all human
beings but also stresses the fact that she is perceived as a representative of Japan; Darko from
Serbia, who interprets in medical settings in Switzerland and struggles with his role within
the migration regime, given little to no agency to take sides with those who are in danger of
being deported; or Alain, a court interpreter in Burkina Faso, who values the creativity
needed in his profession and explains how he chooses his words to ease communicative
events that might result in conflict between the different parties at court.
As such a map of connections and breaks, faint paths and moments of intense
overlaps and intersections unfolded in our imagination and discussions, it became clear that
the project cannot be restricted to words. It was Nino Paula Bulling who contributed
drawings based on an own reading, an own interpretation of the assemblage of portraits in
this book. The cover and the ten drawings inside the book show moments and feelings that
resonate with the experiences of the figures of interpretation, images that can inspire readers
to see connections between them.
Enrique, Nima, Narendra, Conrad, Tulay, Bintou, Non, Darko and Alain are
examples of people who are portrayed in Figures of Interpretation. Their narratives speak of
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status and practices, of different times and places. The collection of their portraits
contributes to an understanding of how language intersects with race, class, gender and
geopolitical space. g. The portraits imply various forms of relationships and ways of writing
with the "figures" themselves, some of the vignettes were written by the figure, some were
written in discussion with the figure, and others were not read by the figure at all. Some of
the portraits are based on encounters from fieldwork or the archive and others are stories
about friends or relatives.
They are interpreted individually and, through this book, are open for interpretation
collectively and connectively. Figures of Interpretation, therefore, also addresses the authors and
the readers, who become figures of interpretation themselves. Further, by understanding a
figure as a shape or configuration, Figures of Interpretation points to the web connecting the
people who interpret. Their story is part of a larger history, a history of interpreters, a history
of interpretation and a history of interpretive reading. This history can be told because it is
built on narratives that are attentive to singular experiences as well as the underlying
hierarchical distribution of power.1
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1We thank the Swiss National Science Foundation for the funding of our research project (no.
159852) which was the starting point of this journey. We thank the Institute of Multilingualism at
the University of Fribourg whose financial support made it possible to have an edited book which
not only includes art in words but also art in drawings. We thank Christopher Huguenin for his
sensitive work of editing the whole manuscript.
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