The Interpreter and the Canadian Convention Refugee Hearing: Crossing the potentially life-threatening boundaries between “coccode-e-eh,” “cluck-cluck,” and “cot-cot-cot”

Abstract

The Interpreter and the Canadian Convention Refugee Hearing: Crossing the potentially life-threatening boundaries between "coccode-e-eh," "cluck-cluck," and "cot-cot-cot" — This paper discusses the obstacles facing interpreters and translators in inter-cultural situations with reference to Canadian Convention refugee hearings, taped in 1987. The author sets forth a theory of interpretation suited to the sometimes comical, but usually tragic elements of failed human interaction as they occur in legal hearings. The article begins with a comparison between a fictional rendering of failed communication from the work of Primo Levi, but then moves on to the plight of persecuted persons who have come to Canada to claim Convention refugee status. Obvious similarities emerge in a comparison of the two processes; but ultimately it is the language of persecution — silence, scars, tears, pleas, and impassioned cries — that is the most difficult to interpret and translate. Given the dynamics of inter-cultural legal discourse and the gravity of the issues at stake, the author argues for a broader mandate for the interpreter, such that s/he will also be permitted to act as a medium through which inter-cultural information can pass, rather than yet another grid into which pained words must fit.

Résumé

The Interpreter and the Canadian Convention Refugee Hearing: Crossing the potentially life-threatening boundaries between "coccode-e-eh," "cluck-cluck," and "cot-cot-cot" — L'auteur passe en revue les difficultés que rencontrent les traducteurs et les interprètes lors des enquêtes dont les demandeurs d'asile ont fait l'objet en 1987 au Canada. Il propose une théorie de l'interprétation qui rendrait compte des éléments comiques parfois, tragiques le plus souvent, qui résultent d'une interaction humaine défaillante, lors des enquêtes. Il examine d'abord un texte fictionnel de Primo Levi, puis le récit des personnes demandant le statut de réfugiés au Canada. On constate des ressemblances frappantes entre les deux processus; ultimement, c'est cependant le langage de la persécution — le silence, les cicatrices, les larmes, les suppliques et les cris de détresse — qui pose le plus de difficultés aux interprètes. Étant donné la dynamique du discours juridique interculturel et la gravité des cas en cause, l'auteur propose que le mandat des interprètes soit élargi pour qu'ils/elles deviennent des intermédiaires interculturels au lieu d'être des obstacles supplémentaires dans l'expression de la souffrance des demandeurs d'asile.