Translation, migration and hospitality: Migrant artists as agents of translation

Rethinking translation through the lens of migration, beyond traditional notions of perfect correspondence, means rediscovering the happiness inherent to translation and the pleasure of linguistic hospitality, not as abstract ideal detached from reality, but as a series of concrete actions in welcoming spaces. Language and translation are closely intertwined with migration, however migrants are often translated through racializing narratives and are subject to social inequalities. After examining instances of translation practices, closely associated with binary views of translation, the chapter addresses human-rights oriented welcoming practices informed by the pleasure of hospitality, such as those carried out by the director of a reception centre at Isola di Capo Rizzuto, Calabria, Italy, from 2018 to 2019, where migrants and asylum seekers acquired an active role in the construction of their own identity. Self-translation through the arts, as shown in the chapter, confirms the political and ethical role that translation acquires.