Communicating in the Global Village: On Language, Translation and Cultural Identity

The paper attempts to show the effect of recent developments (particularly globalisation and advances in technology) on our production and perception of language, and on translation and the job profile of the translator. The two conflicting forces of globalism and tribalism are presented and set off against the sociological concept of cultural identity. The position of English as the world lingua franca (and in post-colonial studies) is discussed, along with the constellation of languages in present-day Europe and the resulting phenomenon of hybridity. Conclusions are drawn for the varying activities of translation today and for the rapidly changing job profile of the translator, and these are illustrated by comparing four authentic translation assignments: from an international organisation, from an electrical appliances firm with branches all over Europe, from an airline publicity leaflet, and from a recent best-selling novel. Based on the above, a job profile of the modern translator is sketched, showing him/her as an expert for intercultural communication in an internationalised world which is at the same time characterised by an abundance of individual cultural communities.