THE ROLE OF TRANSLATOR IN THE DISCOURSES OF GLOBALIZATION AND DE-GLOBALIZATION

This paper further explores the relationship between translation/interpreting and globalization focusing on the relationship between translation/interpreting and the discourses of globalization and de-globalization. The unique status of English as an international language and its subsequent fast spread around the world pose a serious challenge to the role of the translator/interpreter as a profession and translation studies as an academic field. This global expansion has a direct negative impact on translation/interpreting as the very existence of translation/interpreting as a field of study and the translator/interpreter as a profession has become under risk. On the other hand, despite the obvious negative consequences of these disadvantages, there are still serious issues challenging globalization and the further spread of English in the world. Some of these issues have purely linguistic and some have extralinguistic nature. In this connection, the paper deals with mostly extralinguistic issues, which positively and negatively affect the role of translation/interpreting and the translator/interpreter in this challenging environment.