Conclusion: Cross-Cultural Communication and Language in Wartime: Reflections and Future Directions

Abstract

Languages play a crucial role in war, conflict and peacemaking: in intelligence gathering and evaluation, pre-deployment preparations, operations on the ground, regime-change, and supporting refugees and displaced persons. In the politics of war, languages have a dual impact: a public policy dimension, setting frameworks and expectations; and the lived experience of those 'on the ground', working with and meeting speakers of other languages.This series intends to bring together books which deal with the role of languages in situations of conflict, including war, civil war, occupation, peace-keeping, peace-enforcement and humanitarian action in war zones. It will offer an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, translation studies, intercultural communication, history, politics, international relations and cultural studies. Books in the series will explore specific conflict situations across a range of times and places, and specific language-related roles and activities, examining three contexts: languages and the military, meeting the other in war and peacemaking, and interpreting/translating in war.

impact of context on community interpreting research, practice & training

“…Other initially less usual settings include military interpreting and interpreting in conflict and war contexts such as refugee camps and cross-border investigations (for a state-of-the-art approach, see Gehrmann & Laugesen, 2020;Ruiz Rosendo & Persaud, 2016). One of the major issues explored in this branch of research is the lack of a legal framework in which interpreters operate in war zones.…”