Translation and power at the European union
Abstract The present article discusses the topic of ‘power and translation’ at European Union institutions. The article starts by warning against over‐generalising any one particular translation situation, and advocates the need for taking into account some of the major differences between countries, between various epochs in history, as well as the translators’ foreign‐language abilities. The article then addresses very specific ‘language and power’ issues. At the European Union, language domination is tied to political power, with English and French being the ‘core languages’ for daily work; however, this domination is eroded when documents are discussed in expert and political fora. Nevertheless, the differences in foreign language acquisition — in the various EU member states — mean that some states have more influence, and more ‘power’, than they would normally be entitled to, according to the number of their inhabitants.
Interpretación y multilingüismo en la UE: ¿irse o quedarse?
This paper seeks to give an overview of the current status of multilingualism and interpreting in the EU institutions at a time when English is increasingly used as a lingua franca. It examines the use of English in the different EU bodies and the extent to which ELF (English as a lingua franca) has an impact on the use of other languages. After evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of an English-only EU, the reactions of interpreters and interpreting services to the rise of ELF are analysed. In closing, the article reviews possible strategic actions the interpreting services could endorse in order to facilitate a more realistic and less resentful response to an inevitable phenomenon.
Inquiring "Tree of Life" at Home: Persian Classic Literature in English Classes.
The recent decades of English Language Teaching (ELT) appear to be particularly concerned with the marginalisation caused by English linguistic, cultural, and academic colonisation and imperialism. Bold footprints of this academic monopoly can be seen in the wide incorporation of abridged or unabridged British and American literary works in foreign language settings. Such literary products are often legitimised as authentic materials authored by native speakers. Inspired by the idea of incorporating non-native literature and translated first language literature into English classes, the authors of this article sought to explore the possibilities of opening spaces for English translations of Persian classic works of literature in English as foreign language classrooms and tracing the language events that unfolded as a result of incorporating such literature. The participants of this two-semester long action research project were non-English major Iranian female university students, majoring in various fields at Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran. The sense of familiarity the students had with such national literary works led to the emergence of language instances lightened by sparks of virtue, vision, life and art.