Language Ideology in Translation/Interpretation

Translation and interpretation are activities that bridge different languages and cultures and, as such, they are inherently ideological, in that they activate a set of processes that indicate the positioning of all the involved participants toward the source language (SL), source text (ST), source audience and culture (SA and SC), as well as toward the target language (TL), target text (TT), target audience and culture (TA and TC). Language ideologies can operate at different levels in the translation and interpretation process and influence how texts to be imported into another culture are selected, translated, published, disseminated, and received. The different choices involved in any translation or interpretation can be considered as ideological in that they reflect the positioning of participants, such as commissioning entities, translators, and the public, in understanding and making sense of the language choices. These may be not immediately visible to receivers, as manipulations, omissions, and rewriting can obscure or misinterpret small or large parts of the TL. Particularly noteworthy cases involve mistranslations, under-translations, and over-translations. Translations and interpretation are an important part of the wider event of language contact and, as such, they may shed light on how people and communities have negotiated textual and performative artifacts across times and cultures.