Role of Translation in Disaster Response

Abstract

In this article, we highlight and discuss in detail the role of translation transnational during and in response to a crisis. Translation practices and readiness are critical for multilingual and transnational communities to survive during and respond to disasters (Marlowe, 2020).  The translation of information is crucial to the survival of the communities that are marginalized within their own countries due to their linguistic diversity. And yet, this is not an area often studied or considered, even though we understand its importance (O’Brien, 2019; Gonzales, 2018; Agboka, 2013). Hence, we present an analysis of the work of “knowledge workers” (Baniya & Potts, 2021) during the current Russia-Ukraine war to showcase how translation work happens at an intersection of digital platforms, multilingualism, and social justice.