Contextualizing Trauma in Trauma-Informed Interpreting: A Narrative Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/nvts.2022.20Keywords:
Trauma-informed interpreting, trauma, trauma narrative, PTSD, trauma-informed trainingAbstract
Interpreters are exposed to trauma and traumatic narratives in their work with survivors of major trauma across a wide variety of contexts. This exposure may, in turn, result in serious psychological stress and emotional breakdowns. Therefore, interpreters need to become well informed about the nature of trauma (i.e., its adverse effects as well as its representations). The main objective of this paper is to provide an overview of scientific literature on the nature of trauma in relation to the newly emerging field of trauma-informed interpreting. A narrative review of the literature was conducted using a range of search strategies to locate literature on trauma and the language used in the narration of trauma. Subsequently, the relevant literature was subjected to thematic analysis. The findings point to a unique and complex nature of trauma language that is characterized by a number of structural, linguistic, and paralinguistic features.