Axiological and Ideological Reframing in the Interpreting of Syrian Refugee’s Trauma Discourse: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Interviews as an Example
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/eduj.Vol1.Iss46.2398Keywords:
Trauma Discourse UNHCR institutional hegemony and interpreter axiology Ideology Syrian RefugeesAbstract
Abstract
Trauma discourse can actively participate in truthfully reflecting victims’ painful experiences. The importance of this kind of discourse increases when it is delivered at certain times, in certain places and to certain people. If the speaker succeeds in the convincing audience, different reactions take place the least of which is driving people’s understanding towards a point that the speaker hopes to. This happens when both the speaker and his audience share the same language. When a discourse is delivered in a language foreign to the audience the only alternative is translation and interpreting. It is expected that throughout interpreting, refugees’ feelings and ideas are and have to be reflected to foreigners. To achieve such a goal, interpreting has to be as transparent as possible. The interpreter’s axiology and ideology may, however, play a decisive role in obstructing the transference of these significant experiences. The present article tries to investigate the degree to which Arabic trauma discourse is distorted in interpreting. It hypothesizes that interpreters are consciously or/and unconsciously socio-politically motivated to delete, add or improperly substitute the linguistic indicators used to convey emotional responses to the crisis. It adopts Baker’s (2006) understanding of narrative reframing. It investigates the rendering of the interpersonal linguistic tools suggested in Martin and White’s (2005) proposal of appraisal theory. The data is taken from the UNHCR’s interviews with Syrian refugees. The thorough examination of the interpreting of these interviews reveals that the interpreters play an effective role in discursively underestimating or exaggerating the interviewees’ suffering.
Keywords
Trauma Discourse UNHCR institutional hegemony and interpreter axiology Ideology Syrian Refugees
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Copyright (c) 2022 Assist. Lecturer Ahmed Fakhir Majeed, Assist. Lecturer Ammar Fouad Mshari
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