Abstract
In this article we explore interpreter ethics in China’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937–1945). Interpreter ethics in conflict zones may be divided into professional and situation ethics, and situation ethics is the focus of this study. Apart from professional identity and ideology, interpreters have other identities and ideologies such as national identity and political ideology, especially when they belong to either of the conflicting parties. The concepts of ethics, identity and ideology remain unchanged when they are related to interpreting as a profession. However, they have different connotations when they are associated with a nation, a group or a community. As mediators across languages and cultures, interpreters are more likely to face moral crises in wartime than in peacetime. Therefore, in many cases, they have to violate professional ethics in order to follow situation ethics, and situation ethics varies with their identities and ideologies. The research findings show that during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, interpreters’ national identity remained the same but their moral attitude changed.
Highlights
Ethics is an important issue in Translation Studies
As for the Chinese interpreters, there were mainly two kinds of ideology: the Nationalist ideology embraced by the KMT members and the Communist ideology championed by the Communist Party of China (the CPC) members
If the interpreters’ ethics does not conflict with their national interests, they will choose to comply with their professional and situation ethics. If their ethics conflicts with their national interests, identity or ideology, though some interpreters will choose to comply with their professional ethics, while others will choose to follow their situation ethics
Summary
A few years ago, Pym (2012) called for a move away from an “ethics of the translator” to “translator ethics” from the perspective of interculturality and proposed the key concepts relating to translator ethics by claiming that translators are inbetweens, messengers, professionals, interveners, missionaries and agents of co-operation His theory focuses on translators’ professional ethics (i.e., the ethics of the position) rather than their situation ethics, which is an issue of great importance in dealing with conflict interpreters’. The present study mainly applies Pym’s concept of “translator ethics” and Fletcher’s situation ethics to a tentative analysis of the ethics, identity and ideology of various interpreters during the CWRJA, with illustrative examples from Chinese scholars’ research on the war
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