TRANSLATOR, TRADITOR:THE INTERPRETER AS TRAITOR IN CLASSICAL TRADITION

摘要

In recent years, a series of reports have appeared in the British pressnabout the fate of Iraqi interpreters employed by the British forcesnin Basra.1 As well as the day-to-day risk of death or injury in thencourse of their work, interpreters have been vulnerable to reprisalsnfrom insurgents who view them as collaborators and traitors. Therenhave been a large number of documented cases of Iraqi interpretersnbeing murdered, often in an especially brutal manner. Many otherncases have gone undocumented, in part because of the tendencynfor interpreters to work under pseudonyms and even wear masks tonconceal their identity, making it diffi cult to identify a particular victimnas an interpreter. The issue of protecting interpreters came to a headnin 2007 with the handover of Basra to Iraqi administration and thensubsequent withdrawal of British troops.