Call for Proposals Issue on Translation and Interpreting and/as Social Commitment

The current climate and migrant crises, internal and external conflicts all over the world, and the aftermath of despotic or authoritarian regimes in post-colonial or neo-colonial contexts create ever more novel and urgent challenges and demands for translation and interpreting, especially in the Global South. Translators and interpreters—as well as researchers in the field—are continuously working to respond to these situations from the perspective of their practices, their research and their critical self-analysis. Specifically, the literature studying the role of translation and interpreting as key factors in addressing social justice issues has increased during the past decade. It has become increasingly obvious that these practices transcend the comparatist, equivalence-based approaches that have been so pervasive in traditional translation/interpreting studies. As active participants in social practices (an approach that has been prevalent since a “social turn” was announced, for instance, in Wolf 2006), translators and interpreters' role in advocating for social justice and equity as solutions to the multiple crises humanity and the planet are going through has become a key issue in the field.

After years of contributions that have underscored the instrumentalization of translation and interpreting in furthering power differentials in colonial and post-colonial contexts, the field has turned its attention to the potential for resistance that both practices encompass. Nevertheless, as Maria Tymoczko explains in the Foreword to Translation, Resistance, Activism—a work that has become mandatory reading in the field—activists cannot be limited to opposing or resisting situations of social injustice: “they must also be able to initiate action, change direction, construct new goals, articulate new values, seek new paths” (viii). These words reflect a changing emphasis that attests to a shift from denouncing and resisting social injustice toward building new paradigms for social justice.

Such a turn has coincided with scholarly works that attend to the role of community interpreting as guaranteeing linguistic rights all over the world. As Nathan Garber has pointed out, “[i]n many countries, the tradition out of which community interpreting has risen is one of social justice and equity. Underlying the development of community interpreting is the recognition that many individuals are deprived of access to services to which they are entitled, because they do not speak the language of the institution or the service provider” (13). In this context, networks of translators/interpreters and researchers have emerged, looking to provide language access services to underprivileged sectors and individuals one of them is ECOS, translators and interpreters for solidarity. As part of the I International Forum of Translation, Interpreting and Social Commitment, the Granada Declaration was published in 2007, which as presented as a “Manifesto in favour of translation and interpreting at the service of society as a whole and all societies.” The Manifesto was included in the volume edited by Boéri and Maier (2010).

Following in the footsteps of pioneering works such as that edited by Tymoczko (2010), a handful of edited volumes, special issues and journal articles have looked into the role of translation and interpreting in building more equitable societies. A preliminary survey points to a series of publications examining the role of interpreting in the context of community services, such as the pioneering series The Critical Link (1997, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2013) and the volume edited by Valero-Garcés and Tipton (2017). This book is part of a series called “Translation, Interpreting and Social Justice in a Globalised World”, along with the volumes edited by Taibi (2017) and Baumgarten and Cornellà-Detrell (2018). Tesseur (2023) studies the role of translation in Non-Government Organizations; Monzó-Nebot and Lomeña-Galiano (2024) study the role of translation and interpreting in institutional contexts. Also co-edited by Monzó-Nebot, this time with Mellinger, a special issue of Just: Journal of Language Rights & Minorities, studies language policies for social justice. Two special issues devoted to social justice in specialized translation were edited by Savage and Dura (2023, 2024). The impact of human activity on the environment and on biological and cultural diversity has been approached in works by Cronin (2017) and Price (2023); likewise, the volume edited by Baer and Kaindl (2018) explores the activist potential of queer studies for translation. The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Activism (2020), edited by Gould and Tahmasebian, surveys the 'intervenient' roles, to use Carol Maier's term for language mediators' changemaking, of translators and interpreters enacting dissent, bearing witness, and mediating revolution, in settings from the battle lines to the asylum lines. Baker's volume, Translating Dissent: Voices from and with the Egyptian Revolution (2016) adds narrative theory to the management of voices in and around conflict, and authorizes the language mediator's allyship. Translation and Decolonisation: Interdisciplinary Approaches (Chambers and Demir, 2024), offers a lens into reparative, feminist, ideological, and decolonizing forms of translation.

Finally, addressing the multiple conflicts and crises that have occurred during the past years, we find the volume edited by Declercq and Kerremans (2024).

As can be seen from this overview, the social commitment of translators and interpreters has not escaped the interest of researchers, practitioners, and activists in the field. A common trend in the works we have surveyed is the fact that most of them have been published in English, even if many authors are affiliated to Spanish-speaking institutions. Motivated by this background, and with the purpose of providing a forum for researchers in less explored contexts, this current issue of Mutatis Mutandis. Latin American Translation Journal wishes to invite activists, researchers, translators and interpreters to submit their papers studying—from interdisciplinary perspectives—the connection between translation/interpreting and social justice in the context of the Global South.

Areas of Interest

Unpublished papers explicitly investigating the connection between translation/interpreting and the following areas of interest are welcome:

• Translation/Interpreting and (translational) memory activism
• Eco-translation
• Translation/Interpreting and social movements
• Solidarity and resistance
• Activist communities/networks; pioneer activists; digital activism; literary activism; language activism; transnational activism; gender activism
• Critical pedagogies; activist competence; decolonizing education; participatory action research
• Language planning; language violence; linguicism; translation/interpreting as social justice
• Disability rights; accessibility and translation
• Minority language translation
• Human rights and translation
• Community interpreting
• Translation/interpreting and the migrant crisis

Key Dates

Submission of proposals: December 13, 2024
Announcement of accepted proposals: December 20, 2024
Article submission: April 14, 2025
Publication of the issue: July-August, 2025

Submission Guidelines

Send the abstract of your article proposal by December 13 to the following e-mail: revistamutatismutandis@udea.edu.co

The abstract should contain the following specifications:

- Title of the article

- Author(s) name(s), institutional affiliation, e-mail and short biographical note. The journal will ask for a statement of authorship if necessary.

- A 250-word proposal, including a description of the proposed article, its theoretical and methodological framework, rationale, and relevance to the field.

- Section of the journal in which the article will be submitted (research article, reflection article, review article, etc.). Review our "Section Policies".

- Thematic line of the call within which the article falls.

- 5 keywords

- Preliminary bibliography

Please keep in mind that the final version of your article must be between 7000 and 12000 words long, which includes any notes and references. Your article may be written in English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish language. We suggest you read and follow carefully our "Guidelines for Authors" and "Ethical Considerations." If your article does not comply with any of the editorial policies, it will be rejected in a preliminary review. Also, it is worth mentioning that the acceptance of a proposal does not imply the automatic acceptance of your submission. All submissions will go through a peer-review process, as stated in our Author Guidelines.

E-mail for proposal submission: rvmutatismutandis.id@udea.edu.co

References

Baer, B. J. & Kaindl, K. (Eds.; 2018). Queering translation. Translating the queer. Theory, practice, and activism. Routledge.

Baker, M. (2016) Translating dissent: voices from and with the Egyptian revolution. Routledge.

Baumgarten, S. & Cornellà-Detrell, J. (2019). Translation and global spaces of power. Multilingual Matters.

Boéri, J. & Maier, C. (Dir.; 2010). Compromiso social y tradução/interpretação-Translation/Interpreting and social activism. ECOS: Traductores e intérpretes por la solidaridad.

Brunette, L., Bastin, G., Hemlin, I., & Clarke, H. (Eds.; 2003). The critical link 3: Interpreters in the community. John Benjamins.

Carr, S. E., Roberts, R. P., Dufour, A., & Steyn, D. (Eds.; 1997). The critical link: Interpreters in the community. John Benjamins.

Chambers, C. & Demir, I. (2024). Translation and Decolonisation: Interdisciplinary Approaches. Routledge.

Cronin, M. (2017). Eco-translation. Translation and ecology in the Age of the Anthropocene. Series New Perspectives in Translation and Interpreting Studies. Routledge.

Declercq, C. & Kerremans, K. (Eds.; 2024). The Routledge handbook of translation, interpreting and crisis. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003207580

Garber, N. (2000). Community interpretation: A personal view. In R. P. Roberts, S. E. Carr, D. Abraham, & A. Dufour (Eds.), The critical link 2: Interpreters in the community (pp. 9-20). John Benjamins.

Gonzales, L. & Cooley, S. N. (2024). Second part of special issue on Social justice and translation. Technical Communication and Social Justice, 2(1). https://techcommsocialjustice.org/index.php/tcsj/issue/view/3

Gould, R. R. & Tahmasebian, K. (2020). The Routledge handbook of translation and activism. Routledge.

Hale, S., Ozolins, U., & Stern, L. (Eds.; 2009). The critical link 5: Quality in interpreting – A shared responsibility. John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.87

Mellinger, C. & Monzó-Nebot, E. (Eds.; 2022). Language policies for social justice (edição especial). Just: Journal of Language Rights & Minorities, 1(1-2), 192 pp. https://doi.org/10.7203/Just.1.1

Monzó-Nebot, E. & Lomeña-Galiano, M. (Eds.; 2024). Toward inclusion and social justice in institutional translation and interpreting. Revealing hidden practices of exclusion. Routledge.

Price, J. M. (2023). Translation and epistemicide. Racialization of languages in the Americas. The University of Arizona Press.

Roberts, R. P. Carr, S. E., Abraham, D. y Dufour, A. (Eds.; 2000). The critical link 2: Interpreters in the community. John Benjamins.

Savage, J. & Dura, L. (Eds.; 2023). Special issue on Social justice and translation. Technical Communication and Social Justice, 1(1). https://techcommsocialjustice.org/index.php/tcsj/issue/view/1

Schäffner, C., Kredens, K., & Fowler, Y. (Eds.; 2013). Interpreting in a changing landscape. Selected papers from Critical Link 6. John Benjamins.

Taibi, M. (Ed.; 2018). Translating for the community. Multilingual Matters.

Tesseur, W. (2023). Translation as social justice. Translation policies and practices in non-governmental organisations. Routledge.

Tymoczko, M. (2010). Foreword. In Translation, resistance, activism (pp. vii-ix). University of Massachusetts Press.

Tymoczko, M. (Ed.; 2010). Translation, resistance, activism. University of Massachusetts Press.

Valero-Garcés, C. & Tipton, R. (Eds.; 2017). Ideology, ethics and policy development in public service interpreting and translation. Multilingual Matters.

Wadensjö, C., Dimitrova, B. E., & Nilsson, A. L. (Eds.; 2007). The critical link 4: Professionalisation of interpreting in the community. John Benjamins.

Wolf, M. (Ed.; 2006). Übersetzen – Translating – Traduire: Towards a “social turn”? Lit Verlag.