Abstract
Abstract Drawing on the concept of translatorial action by Justa Holz-Mänttäri, this article sets out to analyse the role of translation in a bilingual formal meeting without any professional translation or interpreting. The analysis reveals the central role of translatorial activities: 60% of the turns include some kind of translatoriality. The chair and expert speakers stand out as producers for most of the translations. Self-translation is the most prominent form of translation, but otherwise the translator role tends to vary dynamically with the role of the source text producer. Three types of translatorial action with varying degrees of replication of content were found: duplicating, summarizing, and expanding. In the meeting context, translatorial action is the primary means of enabling participation for all, regardless of language skills or language background, and this action was used by the participants in flexible and dynamic ways.
Highlights
Over the past two decades, institutional translation and interpretation have attracted increasing attention in translation studies
There has been little research of less formalized translatoriality in institutionally set multilingual situations, and it has often focused on the use of nonprofessional interpreters in designated interpreter roles, such as nurses doubling as interpreters in healthcare settings (Elderkin-Thompson, Silver, and Waitzkin 2001), and less on situations where, in spite of translatorial needs, no fixed interpreter or translator role exists
Even though Holz-Mänttäri’s (1984) theory has been designed for describing translation as a professional practice, our analysis illustrates that it has wider applicability and can help understanding paraprofessional translation as a language practice
Summary
Over the past two decades, institutional translation and interpretation have attracted increasing attention in translation studies. The meetings we have studied are bilingual: Finnish and Swedish are used in both written and oral modes, case documents are provided in two languages, and the participants may use their own mother tongue during the meeting. As representatives of their background organizations, the participants stand for different language practices, either monolingual (Finnish or Swedish) or bilingual. In the absence of explicit norms of completeness, exactness or fidelity, translatorial actors have access to a variety of language practices in completing their task, and these will be discussed Through these three phases we aim to arrive at a holistic understanding of the translatoriality of bilingual meetings. Government documents used in formal meetings are translations from Finnish (Pilke and Salminen 2013, 75)
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