Abstract
As the dominant lingua franca, the English language acts as an invisible, hegemonic force that exerts a strong influence over the framing of the global world. By using English unreflexively in research, education, and professional cross-cultural exchanges, we may unwittingly support unequal power structures, the homogenization of research, and the marginalization of traditions and knowledge systems based on languages other than English. In most cases where translation is involved, the translating act is treated as a fait accompli or a mere technical process, without acknowledging that exact equivalence is impossible to achieve, and that translation has important epistemological, methodological, and ethical consequences.
The purpose of this article is to increase reflexivity in the use of language and translation in archival scholarly and professional communication, and by doing so, support the visibility and survival of local, non-English-based recordkeeping cultures. Through a review of key linguistic and translation concepts, the article introduces various translation approaches—notably, those that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, when the discipline of translation studies undertook a “cultural turn”—and examines their relevance to archival research, scholarship, education, and the profession. It also discusses insights gleaned from social science disciplines that have embraced a “translation turn” in the last few decades, with the hope to encourage a similar turn in archival studies.
Recommended Citation
Foscarini, Fiorella
(2026)
"Reflections on Language and Translation: Toward a "Translation Turn" in Archival Studies,"
Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies: Vol. 13, Article 11.
Available at:
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol13/iss1/11