Interpreting in the tri-continental context of the Canary Islands: cultural and ideological considerations

Abstract

Two contrasting images of the Canary Islands often appear side by side in the local press: on the one hand, the economic disadvantages associated with the Outermost Regions of the EU (in this case not just the physical distance that separates the Islands from the rest of Europe but also the fragmentation of the islands, incurring extra transport costs for goods sent first to the major islands and subsequently on to the smaller ones) and on the other, the geo-strategic advantage of being (politically) European, enjoying close linguistic and cultural ties with South America and yet being so close to Africa. This latter facet is perhaps not so visible to the man (and woman) in the street, but has underpinned numerous initiatives over recent years. A clear example of this line of thought can be seen in the setting up, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, of the headquarters of Casa África, through which many development cooperation projects have been implemented with international (often European and more specifically Spanish) funding, frequently based on previous experiences in Latin America but aimed at and adapted to African contexts. Other institutions in the Canary Islands (including Casa Colón and others) have also incorporated this vision of the Canary Islands in many of their projects. As a result, local interpreters (generally European not just in terms of their official nationality but also their culture, education and general world view) have often been called on to work in communicative situations in which a shared (European) language contrasts strikingly with different perceptions of reality. In many cases, the interpreters originate from the country/ies that have, in the not so distant past, colonised the countries that the delegates, attendees and speakers they are assigned to translate hail from. This paper presents some reflections, based on personal experience, not only of the challenges faced by the interpreters working in these conditions, but also of how enriching the experience of revisiting recent history from a communicative, people-based perspective can be.