Lost in Translation Transcultural Translation and Decolonialization of Knowledge

Article published in Ywww.translate.eipcp.net

Translated by Camilla Nielsen and Shirley Anne Tate

Encarnación:
Since the 1990s the Spaniards who live here today have no longer experienced this racism but at that time (I’m referring to the 1970s): «Oh, you’re the child of a foreigner, you reek of garlic» and they always insult you, you encountered teachers who rejected you because you couldn’t speak German, then there was this form of racism... and this leaves a mark on you even as an adult. Because you are in a different country and you don’t want to be here, because you are with your parents, and it is different, because you are not part of the society and before (in Spain) you were.

Carla:
Excuse me, that can also happen in your own country, when we are from different cultures, because that also happened to me. I am from a different culture and I used to speak a different language. My mother spoke a different language and I used to speak her language. I began school when I still spoke my mother’s language and then learned Spanish in school; when I was six I still couldn’t speak Spanish. It does not just happen to you if you are from a different country, it can also happen in the same country.

Dani:
In Latin America, in general, it happens. There is strong racism against the indigenous and black population.