Professionalisms at War? Interpreting in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations

Abstract

This article examines the ways in which the situational and institutional contexts of interpreting in war and in post-conflict development bring interpreting into close proximity with alternative and dominant forms of professionalism which serve to condition the work and status of the interpreters involved. By drawing on evidence from conflict situations, the professional interpreting association AIIC, and research interviews, the article questions traditional notions of what constitutes the ‘profession’ of interpreting. It argues that in the context of war, military professionalism has tended to allow little space for key tenets of professional interpreting, but that recent conflicts have led to an interrogation of how such competing professionalisms might begin to coexist. In post-conflict development, on the other hand, the traditional models of ‘development professionals’ have largely concealed the role of language mediation, and this relative invisibility has meant that a similar interrogation on competing professionalisms has yet to take place.