Sounds of Translation from Melissa

Описание: In this podcast, the translators of Melissa discuss their work, but also the challenges that they face. Translation is a vital aspect of Melissa’s activities, bringing migrant women of different origins together and bridging the gaps between them. The work of Melissa’s translators is not just about verbal communication, but also about cultural and emotional exchanges, caring, and sharing. As they explain in this discussion, the complex tasks that they undertake are not just about finding the right words, but most importantly about finding the right meanings, feelings, gestures, and expressions to translate not only from one language to another but also from one dialect to another. Melissa’s translators are cultural mediators. Not all experiences of migration are the same. Not all women are the same. For them, “becoming someone’s voice” is a form of support, but also a form of responsibility that involves emotional burden. While translators narrate happy and vibrant moments, share positive experiences, interesting stories, songs, questionnaires or poetry, there are also difficult experiences of having to translate traumatic narrations of war, displacement, precarity, and violence.

Languages: Greek, English and Arabic

The participants have decided to remain anonymous

Coordination of group discussion: Nelli Kambouri

Recording July 2023: Ioannis Kotsonis & Eva Matsigkou

Editing & Sound production: Ioannis Kotsonis

References:
-Richard Devine - Multi-channel field recording of 12,000 bees at Buckeye Creek Farm.
  / multi-channel-field-recording  
-Liborio Conti - On a Piano Cloud
https://www.no-copyright-music.com

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 101002720, PI: Anna Papaeti).