Translation Profession Between the Ethical Challenges and Social Responsibilities

Abstract

Language transfer is an important and complicated process that requires a critical communication component, which is translation. As a language mediator, translation is subject to ethical and social responsibilities. The translator is responsible for transferring the source text in a multilingual setting, and accountability became a vital issue in the translation and interpreting fields. Baker & Maier (2011) claim that there is an increase in responsibility. Thus, this has yielded an increase in visibility, hence greater pressure on the profession to demonstrate that it is cognizant of its impact on society (3). In many situations, a translator faces challenging and complicated tasks; Robinson (1997) raised the following questions from a translator`s point of view; what can a translator do when he/she is asked to translate an offensive text? Or, to put it differently, what can a feminist translator do when she is asked to translate a blatantly sexist text? And what can be done in the case of a liberal translator when he/she is asked to translate a neo-Nazi text? (26). These previous examples carry aspects that may create a clash between professional ethics, loyalty to the person, company, or agency paying the translator, and sometimes the translator`s personal and moral beliefs. In the present paper, I aim to expand my understanding of ethics and social responsibilities in the translation field. Moreover, I seek to analyze various challenges that may face the translator/interpreter while producing a target text that fits into the new cultural setting of the target language, serves its purpose, and considers professional ethics.