Interlingual Relations
Global Politics in a Polyglot World
Revealing the translation work underlying politics
Description
International politics is often conducted in two languages or more, and since no two languages are exactly the same, what is possible to say in one language may be impossible to say in another. Translation is at the heart of global politics, and interlingual relations traverse time, space, culture, and state borders. Interlingual Relations builds on emergent literature on translation in International Relations (IR) to propose a unique research agenda for scholars of global politics, offering multiple directions and sets of principles for sustained study.
The contributors use various methodologies to explore these interfaces and encounters in different sites, bringing together multiple subfields, approaches, and disciplinary paradigms across IR’s history. Together they offer a more truly global perspective on international affairs, going beyond the hegemony of English to demonstrate the interconnectedness between “high” politics and everyday life. They show the role of translation in global politics as one of world-making, whereby social roles, rules, and responsibilities establish the semblance of order despite not sounding or meaning the same to all actors. In establishing Interlingual Relations as a foundational part of IR, the book offers another key to studying global interactions and the high political stakes in the theories, methods, and ethics of translation.
Mauro José Caraccioli is Associate Professor of Political Science and Core Faculty in the ASPECT Program at Virginia Tech.
Einar Wigen is Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oslo.
Reviews
“This extraordinarily rich book does IR the huge favor of revealing what has long remained hidden in plain sight: the world is polyglot—with attendant consequences for global politics. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Caraccioli, Wigen and their contributors for helping us catch up with reality.”
- Vincent Pouliot, Professor and Chair of International Studies, Université de Montréal
“I have high hopes for the reception of this book. With a collection of uniformly excellent essays, addressed to diverse translation inquiry problematics – theory, history, and order – the collection’s diverse contributions have everything necessary to fulfill the overall aim of the intervention, to demonstrate the ‘difference a systematic understanding of translation in global politics would make for how IR is defined, practiced, and studied.’”
- Michael J Shapiro, Journal of Peace Research