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“Who are you standing with?”: cultural (self-re)translation of a Russian-speaking conference immigrant-interpreter in Israel during the war in Ukraine

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Published/Copyright: October 6, 2023

Abstract

The war in Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, has led to a significant civilian involvement in Israel, particularly among immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who began to provide humanitarian assistance, including interpreting. Highlighting the interrelation between translation and migration, I argue that the war strongly affects multiple hybrid identities of immigrant-interpreters who along with interlingual translation engage also in processes of cultural (self-re)translation. Scholarly attention for such experiences has been relatively limited, since most research on interpreting in war and conflict has prioritized interpreter experiences within war struck regions. Little attention has also been devoted to the work of (conference) interpreters who are themselves immigrants. In this autoethnographic study therefore, I present my own experience during the war as both an immigrant from Russia and a conference interpreter who works with Russian and Hebrew. I discuss several aspects pertinent to the immigrant-interpreter experience within and beyond the interpreting practice: being part of a collective of immigrants, involved in humanitarian assistance; negotiating the devaluation of Russian(ness); facing challenges to the (in)visibility, implied in the interpreter’s role; and moving in-between the origin and the host countries.

Таня Воинова

Война в Украине, начавшаяся 24 февраля 2022 года, привела к гражданской вовлеченности в Израиле, в особенности среди иммигрантов из бывшего СССР. В рамках гуманитарных проектов многие иммигранты занимались в том числе устным переводом. В данной статье, освещающей взаимосвязь между переводом и миграцией, утверждается, что война существенно влияет на многочисленные гибридные идентичности переводчиков-иммигрантов, которые наряду с межъязыковым переводом проходят также процессы культурного (повторного само)перевода. В научной литературе внимание к такому опыту относительно ограничено: в большинстве исследований, посвященных устному переводу во время войн и вооруженных конфликтов, изучается опыт переводчиков непосредственно в пострадавших от войны регионах. Недостаточно внимания уделяется также опыту переводчиков-синхронистов, которые сами являются иммигрантами. В данном автоэтнографическом исследовании анализируется собственный опыт автора как иммигранта, приехавшего в Израиль из России, и переводчика-синхрониста, работающего с русским языком и ивритом, в ходе войны в Украине. В статье обсуждаются аспекты, связанные с опытом переводчиков-иммигрантов в рамках переводческой практики и за ее пределами: принадлежность к коллективу иммигрантов, участвующих в гуманитарных проектах; негоциации идентичности на фоне девальвации русскости и русского языка; вызовы (не)видимости переводческой роли; и перемещение идентичности между страной исхода и принимающей страной.


Corresponding author: Tanya Voinova, Ruppin Academic Center, Institute for Immigration and Social Integration, 40250, Emek Hefer , Israel; and Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies , Bar-Ilan University , Ramat-Gan , 5290002 , Israel, E-mail:

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Received: 2023-04-12
Accepted: 2023-09-08
Published Online: 2023-10-06
Published in Print: 2024-01-29

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