Interpreters as Diplomats: A Diplomatic History of the Role of Interpreters in World Politics PDF
Preview Interpreters as Diplomats: A Diplomatic History of the Role of Interpreters in World Politics
INTERPRETERS AS DIPLOMATS This page intentionally left blank PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSLATION Series Director: Jean Delisle INTERPRETERS AS DIPLOMATS A Diplomatic History of the Role of Interpreters in World Politics Ruth A. ROLAND With an introduction by Jean DELISLE University of Ottawa Press University of Ottawa Press gratefully acknowledges the support extended to its publishing programme by the Canada Council, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the University of Ottawa. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for this project. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Roland, Ruth A., 1922- Interpreters as Diplomats: A Diplomatic History of the Role of Interpreters in World Politics (Perspectives on translation) First published Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1982 under title: Translating World Affairs. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7766-0501-1 1. International relations—Translating—History. 2. World politics— Translating. 3. Translating and interpreting—History. I. Title. II. Title: Translating World Affairs. III. Series. JZ1305.R64 1999 327.1/01/4 C99-900616-9 Technical Assistance: Paule Ouellet Cover Design: Robert Dolbec Typesetting: Danielle Peret Cover Picture: "The Ambassador's Arrival" by Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1455-1526). Corel Photo Studio, "The Masters," Vol. VII, No. 566092. Original Title: Translating World Affairs (Jefferson, N.C., McFarland & Company, 1982) University of Ottawa Press/Presses de 1'Universite d'Ottawa "All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmit- ted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher." ISSN 1480-7734 ISBN 0-7766-0501-1 University of Ottawa Press, 1999 542 King Edward, Ottawa, Ont., Canada KIN 6N5 [email protected] http://www.uopress.uottawa.ca Printed and bound in Canada "Diplomacy is about making friends, not losing them." VERNON WALTERS, The Washington Post, December 16,1985 "What difficulties and misunder- standings might not be avoided, and how much time saved, by leaving matters trustfully in the translator's hands!" FRIEDRICH VON GENTZ, Diary, September 1814 This page intentionally left blank TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction by Jean Delisle 1 Preface 7 CHAPTER 1 The Linguist of Ancient and Medieval Days 9 CHAPTER 2 Europe and the New World, to 1919 41 CHAPTER 3 East-West Confrontation: China, Japan, India 83 CHAPTER 4 From Versailles (1919) to the United Nations 121 CHAPTER 5 Outstanding Interpreters 157 Works Cited 175 Index 201 VII TABLE OF FIGURES 1. Sarcophagus of a Dacian interpreter 22 2. Punishment of an unfaithful interpreter 36 3. Friedrich von Gentz 52 4. Sacajawea 75 5. The "Big Four" and interpreter Paul Mantoux 122 6. The Nuremberg Trial. Booth of the interpreters 129 7. Leon Dostert 131 8. Sir Winston Churchill, interpreter Arthur Hurbert Birse and Joseph Stalin 159 9. Adolf Hitler, interpreter Eugen Dollmann and Galeazzo Ciano 162 10. Constantin Andronikof and Danica Seleskovitch ... 163 VIII INTRODUCTION No matter who we are or where we live, we are all, thanks to translation and interpretation, contemporaries of every histor- ical period and citizens of every country. The author of this work enables us to discover a collection of fascinating charac- ters who, although they worked in the shadows of some of the world's great figures (but also the not so great), played an essential role in political and diplomatic affairs. Like the trans- lators and interpreters who come back to life in these pages, she takes us beyond our linguistic and cultural boundaries and even beyond the boundaries erected through prejudice and ignorance. Ruth A. Roland's story is embellished with numerous anecdotes, which give a human, realistic dimension to her characters. The interpreters belong to almost all of the sub- groups of this age-old profession, from the Pharaohs' first interpreters to conference interpreters, with military, judicial, parliamentary and interpreting brokers in between. Canada's French explorer Jacques Cartier finished his seafaring career as an interpreting broker in the port of Saint-Malo in Brittany. Still today, interpreting brokers in ocean ports are the only ones apart from ship commanders who have the right to trans- late documents written in foreign languages before commer- cial courts. They are also the only ones to serve as go-betweens with foreigners. One of the major strengths of Interpreters as Diplomats is that it is the only work to give an overview of other works by interpreters from antiquity to the introduction of a new inter- 1
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