Abstracts
Abstract
This article proposes that activist translators be involved and engaged in those legal realms, such as the treatment of “illegals” or undocumented migrants, because this is an area in which translators can act as true intermediaries, over and above the act of substituting one lexical item for another; however, this form of activism, like other discretionary activities, needs to be directed to lofty causes, such as upholding the human rights of those most excluded by our society. In other words, alongside of the activism must come good faith, because “activism” could also actively hurt the person for whom the translator is doing his or her task. In other words, when the “translator” decides to become an “interpreter,” there is the danger that the subjectivity of the latter will trump the “objectivity” of the former, with negative consequences. This article advocates activism over machine-like fidelity because the abuses in certain realms of law are so egregious and the stories so horrendous that most translators who are given the right to speak out will take the road towards humanity and basic decency. The examples to which I will be referring emanate from the realm of immigrant incarceration in the Southern US, so for the purposes of this article positive activism points to efforts that help people who are arrested in the United States (or anywhere else) for violations of immigration laws. Regrettably, the kind of activism for which this article advocates is not likely to occur, not only because translators are not “supposed to be” activists, but also because the realm of law that deals with immigration violation is so unevenly applied, so internally inconsistent across local, regional, state, federal and national lines, and so variously construed depending upon the person doing the construing, that it does not really deserve the nomenclature of “law.”
Keywords: translation, interpretation, incarceration, administrative law, undocumented migrants.
Résumé
La traduction engagée à une époque de droit fictif - Cet article propose que les traducteurs militants s’engagent dans les domaines du droit tels que le traitement réservé aux immigrants clandestins ou sans papiers, car ils peuvent y agir en tant que véritables intermédiaires, au-delà de l’acte de substitution d’un élément lexical par un autre. Cependant, cette forme d’engagement, comme toute activité discrétionnaire, doit être pratiquée pour des causes élevées, telles que la défense des droits de l’homme chez les exclus de la société. En d’autres mots, l’engagement doit être accompagné de bonne foi, parce que « l’engagement » peut aussi nuire activement à la personne pour laquelle le traducteur accomplit sa tâche. Autrement dit, lorsque le « traducteur » décide de devenir « interprète », la subjectivité du second risque de l’emporter sur « l’objectivité » du premier, ce qui peut engendrer des conséquences néfastes. Cet article préconise l’engagement plutôt que la fidélité machinale, car les abus dans certains domaines du droit sont si flagrants et les récits qu’on en fait si choquants que la plupart des traducteurs, une fois en possession du droit de parole, choisiront les voies de l’humanité et de la décence la plus élémentaire. Les exemples cités dans ce texte se rapportent au domaine de l’incarcération des immigrants dans le sud des États-Unis. Ainsi, pour les besoins de l’article, l’engagement positif désigne les efforts exercés dans le but d’aider les personnes arrêtées aux États-Unis (ou ailleurs) pour violation des lois sur l’immigration. Malheureusement, la forme d’engagement préconisée par cet article n’est pas susceptible de se concrétiser, non seulement parce que les traducteurs ne sont pas « censés être » engagés, mais encore parce que les préceptes du droit lié aux violations des lois sur l’immigration sont si arbitrairement observés, si dénués de cohérence interne aux échelons locaux, régionaux, et fédéraux, et si diversement interprétés, qu’ils méritent à peine le qualificatif de « droit ».
Mots-clés : traduction, interprétation, incarcération, droit administratif, immigrants sans papiers.
Appendices
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