The Transcription and Translation Team

The transcription and translation team is instrumental in converting spoken content, whether it be interviews, discussions, or presentations, into written form. In that context, their goal is to ensure accurate and culturally sensitive transcriptions & translations into Spanish, English, and French. Although the project's fieldwork takes place in El Salvador, the team works primarily in Canada and is essentially international and interdisciplinary. Team members are undergraduate and graduate students from different fields at Western University and have different levels of fluency in at least two of the target languages.

This team has been built on the following foundations: dynamic approach and collaborative tools, documentation and coherence, preservation of linguistic heritage, intercultural understanding, and inclusive translation.

Dynamic Approach and Collaborative Tools 

The team recognizes that language and translation are dynamic fields and remains open to adapting and evolving its methods. Each task requires collaborative work involving multiple team members, so diverse skills contribute to refining the results. The team shares a set of common work tools that guarantee the consistency of project texts. They have created an internal glossary and terminology databases that they constantly feed through consulting multiple sources. 

The workflow involves a meticulous review process to guarantee precision and reliability in their work, so they actively seek and provide constructive feedback, nourishing a culture of mutual support and shared knowledge.  The team prioritizes collaboration with native speakers from El Salvador. In that way, the documents produced are both linguistically accurate and culturally sensitive.

Documentation & Consistency 

Each transcriber and translator has a serious commitment to documentation and to continuous consultation with survivors and other Salvadorans to ensure accuracy about Salvadoran history and specific vocabulary from rural fields in El Salvador. 

The transcription work contributes to project consistency by standardizing language use and creating a reference point for shared terminology. It also streamlines collaboration by providing a written record that team members can easily reference, fostering efficient teamwork and knowledge sharing. 

Linguistic Patrimony Preservation 

Regarding transcriptions, priority is given to respecting the linguistic forms used by the survivors by maintaining the particularities of Salvadoran Spanish in a specific historical period. In this way, the transcriptions also constitute an essential archive for future reference and reflection. Clear and precise transcriptions are, thus, a sign of respect for the Salvadoran community, ensuring that each voice is heard and understood.

With translations, the team seeks to preserve the original text's meaning and tone while avoiding unnecessary anglicization that could dilute its cultural identity. This approach fosters respect for the source culture and promotes authenticity in the translation.

Intercultural Understanding

Translations play a pivotal role in engaging a wider audience, encouraging participation, and creating a sense of belonging among members who speak different languages. Translations also contribute to the dissemination of knowledge, enabling community members to access and benefit from a wealth of information, insights, and experiences. Through the work of translators, the project becomes more sustainable, as it builds connections with diverse communities, shares resources, and promotes cross-cultural understanding.

It is also important to consider the complexity of working with texts with highly sensitive content, for which training and support to maintain accuracy and respect are needed. This is a complex task that involves constant discussion and collaborative work, which is why the members of this team are constantly learning and adapting.

Inclusive Translation 

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are among the guiding principles of Surviving Memory, which includes, in this team's case, not only faithful translation but also the effort to avoid all types of discrimination. For this reason, the team takes on the challenge of seeking a balance between translating coherently and respecting the desire to express gender equality. Inclusive translation is aimed at bringing visibility to the often overlooked contributions of women during the Salvadoran Civil War, so it serves as a linguistic tool to address the historical gender imbalance in narratives surrounding wartime experiences. For this task, the team starts with the uses of inclusive language reported in the communities (see the sign ‘bienvenid@s’ and ‘bienvenidos/’as’ in the displayed photos), and is sensitive and attentive to any type of linguistic adaptation that includes women and other diversities.  

These tasks have been carried out thanks to the invaluable collaboration of multiple hands in previous years, to mention just a few from the past two years: Bianca Moreno, Lorena Moncada, María Laura Flores, Daniel Zapata, María Angélica González, Talia Méndez, Julieta Ferrer, Jessica Larios, Luna Allue, Giada Ferruci, Yarubi Díaz Colmenares and with the important support of Marithza Andagoya, Marjorie Ratcliffe, Felipe Quintanilla, Reynaldo Hernández, Bernie Hammond and David Heap, each of these people contributing from their experiences and their specialties.