Nike K. Pokorn

Post-socialist translation practices : ideological struggle in children's literature

The book Post-Socialist Translation Practices explores how Communism and Socialism, through their hegemonic pressure, found expression in translation practice from the moment of Socialist revolution to the present day. Based on extensive archival research in the archives of the Communist Party and on the interviews with translators and editors of the period the book attempts to outline the typical and defining features of the Socialist translatorial behaviour by re-reading more than 200 translations of childrens literature and juvenile fiction published in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Despite the variety of different forms of censorship that the translators in all Socialist states were subject to, the book argues that Socialist translation in different cultural and linguistic environments, especially where the Soviet model tried to impose itself, purged the translated texts of the same or similar elements, in particular of the religious presence. The book also traces how ideologically manipulated translations are still uncritically reprinted and widely circulated today.

Natives or non-natives? That is the question...

Abstract This article investigates whether the assumption that teaching staff should always teach a course unit in translation into their A language and should never be involved in translation classes into a language that is not their mother tongue is valid and supported by factual evidence. Based on observation of translation teachers who are native and non-native speakers of the TL, the article investigates typical features of teaching strategies in course units of translation into language B. Digital recordings of lessons and questionnaires seem to suggest that native language does influence the way teachers teach translation; however, it is argued that it would be useful to engage both teachers who are native and those who are non-native speakers of the TL at different stages of translation training.

Interpreting and linguistic inclusion – friends or foes? results from a field study

ABSTRACT The article responds to the existing political claims that translation and interpreting reduce the incentive of recent immigrants to learn the language(s) of the host country and thereby impede their integration. To verify these claims, quantitative and qualitative research was conducted among asylum seekers in Slovenia, i.e. a group of recent immigrants who have access to free interpreting and translation services and free courses in the dominant language of the host country. A questionnaire was used to gather quantitative data on the language profiles of 127 current and former residents of the asylum seeker centres in Slovenia, while qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews conducted with a representative group of 38 asylum seekers. The results show that all surveyed migrants had a positive attitude towards the host country language and that all of the interviewed migrants who had been in the host country for 7 months or more, regardless of their educational attainment, also took the state-funded course of the host country language. Additionally, although the provision of translation and interpreting is recognised as essential in high-risk situations, it is not the preferred communication strategy of the migrants, and therefore does not hinder their functional linguistic inclusion.

“Border Crossings”: translation studies and other disciplines

In 2016 a new book was published in the Benjamins Translation Library with the compelling title Border Crossings. This collective volume does not focus on the issue of migration of people across th...