Citation

Rafael V. Translator 2012; 18(1): 1-22.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, St Jerome Publishing)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

In recent years, much has been written about the revival of counterinsurgency as the preferred strategy of the United States-led forces in their 'global war on terror'. Such a strategy necessarily requires knowledge of the local languages and cultures. This essay focuses on the US military's attempts to deploy language as a weapon of war through the strategic deployment of translation practices in consolidating military occupation. It looks into such tactics as the training of soldiers in foreign languages, the development of automatic translation systems, and the protocols for expropriating the mediating power of native interpreters. The essay also inquires into the limits and contradictions of such tactics and their implications for the success or failure of counterinsurgency. Finally, it asks whether there are other ways in which translation works in war time that tend to evade the militarization of speech.

Keywords: Arabic, Terrorism, Legal interpreting, Code of ethics, Attorney-client conversation, Material support, National Security, Special Administrative Measures (SAMs), War on Terror

Language: en