Jesús Baigorri-Jalón

Conference interpreting is a relatively young profession. Born at the dawn of the 20th century, it hastened the end of the era when diplomatic relations were dominated by a single language, and it played a critical role in the birth of a new multilingual model of diplomacy that continues to this day. In this seminal work on the genesis of conference interpreting, Jesús Baigorri-Jalón provides the profession with a pedigree based on painstaking research and supported by first-hand accounts as well as copious references to original documentation. The author traces the profession’s roots back to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, through its development at the League of Nations and the International Labor Organization, its use by the Allied and Axis powers as they decided the fate of nations in the years prior to and during World War II, and finally its debut on the world stage in 1945, at the Nuremberg Trials. Available for the first time in English, this account will be of interest not only to scholars and students of interpreting but also to any reader interested in the linguistic, social, diplomatic, and political history of the 20th century.

The birth of conference interpreting

From Paris to Nuremberg

This book sheds light on the important role played by interpreters during the Spanish Civil War, offering a historical overview of the ways in which interpreters on both sides mediated the myriad linguistic, cultural, and ethical difficulties of wartime communication. Drawing on archives, interpreters’ memoirs, and testimonies from their own children, the volume extends beyond traditional historiographic accounts to demonstrate the significance of interpreters’ work in facilitating communication during the war across a range of settings, including in combat, hospitals, interrogations, detention camps, and propaganda. Baigorri-Jalón showcases the diverse backgrounds of these interpreters through individual and collective portraits, paying special attention to the work of the many women working as interpreters during the conflict. In turning its attention to lessons from the past, the book reaffirms the work of interpreters in present-day international conflicts toward better understanding the ethical dilemmas they face, in wars, humanitarian aid, demobilization tasks, and multilingual criminal proceedings. This volume, the first book in the Routledge Research on Translation and Interpreting History series, will be of interest to scholars in translation and interpreting studies, particularly those interested in historical and sociological approaches as well as Spanish Civil War scholarship.

Interpreters in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)

Languages in the Crossfire

Kayoko Takeda

Who mediated intercultural exchanges in 9th-century East Asia or in early voyages to the Americas? Did the Soviets or the Americans invent simultaneous interpreting equipment? How did the US government train its first Chinese interpreters? Why is it that Taiwanese interpreters were executed for Japanese war crimes? Bringing together papers from an international symposium held at Rikkyo University in 2014 along with two select pieces, this volume pursues such questions in an eclectic exploration of the practice of interpreting, the recruitment of interpreters, and the challenges interpreters have faced in diplomacy, colonization, religion, war, and occupation. It also introduces innovative use of photography, artifacts, personal journals, and fiction as tools for the historical study of interpreters and interpreting. Targeted at practitioners, scholars, and students of interpreting, translation, and history, the new insights presented in the ten original articles aim to spark discussion and research on the vital roles interpreters have played in intercultural communication through history. Now Open Access as part of the Knowledge Unlatched 2017 Backlist Collection.

Jesús Baigorri-Jalón

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