Translation and Activism: Emerging Patterns of Narrative Community

This article begins the exploration of some of the ways in which translation and interpreting may be embedded in a variety of projects that are set up outside the mainstream institutions of society, with agendas that explicitly challenge the dominant narratives of the time. More specifically, the essay outlines a narrative framework within which the work of communities of translators and interpreters who are actively involved in social or political agendas may be explained and critiqued. ItI argues that narrative provides a basis for shared language and values, thus enabling the mobilization of numerous individuals with very different backgrounds and attributes around specific political, humanitarian, or social issues.