Contribution to Book
Mediating Violence: Three Film Portrayals of Interpreters' Dilemmas as Participants in Conflict
Representing Translation The Representation of Translation and Translators in Contemporary Media
(2019)
Abstract
Interpreters are often characterized in movies either as unreliable intermediaries with divided loyalties or as indifferent props functioning to advance a narrative. There are, however, some exceptions: movies which feature interpreters as well-developed and highly visible characters, who struggle to come to terms with the work they are forced to do under challenging circumstances. This article examines three film portrayals of characters who participate as interpreters in violent actions they themselves do not condone. In Ip Man, a 2008 Hong Kong martial arts film, a local Chinese interpreter works for the Japanese military in their occupation of southern China during the Sino-Japanese War. Next, in The Railway Man, a 2013 British/Australian war film, a Japanese military interpreter facilitates torture in a POW camp during World War II. Lastly, in The Arrival of Wang, a 2011 Italian science fiction film, an Italian interpreter is forced to work in her government’s harsh interrogation and torture of an alien who speaks Chinese. Analysis of these interpreters brings to the fore issues of interpreters’ power to control information and some of the real conflicts interpreters face in hostile settings, such as following orders versus personal morality, and the social stigma of working for the oppressor of one’s compatriots. This article discusses the significance of representing such interpreters in cinema by pointing to the possibility of making audiences aware of interpreters’ dilemmas as communication mediators in violent international conflict.
Keywords
- interpreters,
- war,
- conflict,
- ethics,
- trust
Disciplines
Publication Date
February 21, 2019
Editor
Dror Abend-David
Publisher
Bloomsbury
Publisher Statement
In an increasingly global and multilingual society, translators have transitioned from unobtrusive stagehands to key intercultural mediators-a development that is reflected in contemporary media. From Coppola's Lost in Translation to television's House M.D., and from live performance to social media, translation is rendered as not only utilitarian, but also performative and communicative.
In examining translation as a captivating theme in film, television, commercials, and online content, this multinational collection engages with the problems and limitations faced by translators, as well as the ethical and philosophical aspects of translation and Translation Studies. Contributors examine the role of the translator (as protagonist, agent, negotiator, and double-agent), translation in global communication, the presentation of visual texts, multilingualism in contemporary media, and the role of foreign languages in advertisements. Translation and translators are shown as inseparable parts of a contemporary life that is increasingly multilingual, multiethnic, multinational and socially diverse.
Citation Information
Kayoko Takeda. "Mediating Violence: Three Film Portrayals of Interpreters' Dilemmas as Participants in Conflict" LondonRepresenting Translation The Representation of Translation and Translators in Contemporary Media (2019) p. 46 - 67 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kayoko_takeda/56/