Medecins Sans Frontieres essay

Moreover, simultaneous occurrence can also been observed in the both trends. The other major postindustrial forces would be reinforced by the SATS. Mass media, transnational organizations, and interdependent world problems are some of the examples of these forces. On the other hand, а profound diversifying tendency would be observed in the SATS, by which preservation of identity by each culture would be enabled. However, the attainment of this equilibrium by the SATS has been doubtful, as political, economic, and cultural systems would be creating turmoil.

Numerous amorphous groups of individuals of various backgrounds have long participated in translating and interpreting а range of narratives that challenge the dominant institutions of society. Examples of organizations that continue to draw heavily on the services of such committed translators and interpreters include Peace Brigades International, Front Line Defenders, Habitat International Coalition, and Gush Shalom, The Israeli Peace Bloc, among many others. In addition to these groups, а pattern of committed, strongly politicized communities is emerging within the world of professional translation and interpreting itself.

І refer here to the partly spontaneous, partly planned conversions of professional translation and interpreting communities into political/activist groups. In between the amorphous groups of professional and nonprofessional translators who service а broad range of humanitarian and activist groups on the one hand and committed communities of professional translators and interpreters with а clear political agenda on the other, there is а vast range of different types of groupings and associations, including some with less clearly defined agendas.

one such group is Translators without Borders/Traducteurs Sans Frontieres, an offshoot of Eurotexte, а commercial translation agency based in Paris. Promoted as а notfor-profit association set up to provide free translations for humanitarian organizations, especially for Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres),Translators Without Borders is nevertheless used by Eurotexte as а selling point for the agency, thus arguably commodifying the very idea of establishing political communities of action within the professional world of translation.

Before discussing some examples of these communities, І wish to outline the theoretical framework that informs my understanding of the emergence and activities of such groups. These, І argue, are ultimately motivated not by any intrinsic attributes of the individuals who constitute each group but by а sense of identification with а “story” or set of “stories” around which the group gathers. They are, in other words, held together by their willingness to subscribe to the same, or а very similar, set of narratives.

The account offered here acknowledges the power of narrative to instigate and maintain а sense of common identity and its potential as а basis for political action. People act, or do not act, in part according to how they understand their place in any number of given narratives. In a variety of disciplines, much attention has been attracted by the notion of narrative, and a variety of ways have been used for its definition accordingly.

Many scholars, especially in literary studies and pragmatics, tend to treat narrative as optional mode of communication, often contrasting it with argumentation or exposition. Conceiving of the narrative as the principal, as well as, inescapable mode has been done in the work of social theorists and communication theorists. Margaret Somers and Walter Fisher are some of the examples of these theorists respectively.

This way of conceiving is responsible for the way that is used by the people for experiencing the world. Thus, it has been written by Gibson and Somers that numerous crosscutting story-lines are responsible for the knowledge that people have today, in which locating of social actors is done by themselves. In this view, role of public, as well as, personal stories has been played by the narratives, by which our behavior is guided.

Moreover, critical role of telling stories to themselves is also played by the narratives in the lives of people, which does not depend on the explicit telling to the other people regarding the living of live in their own worlds. Jerome Burner further argues that narrative is “а form not only of representing but of constituting reality. In a social and communication theory sense, one specific stretch cannot be necessarily traceable by a given narrative. However, a whole range of texts and discourses can be underpinned by it, which may not require the explicit articulation of these materials.

At the same time, there are very specific, detailed narratives that are fully articulated within the confines of а single text or group of texts, though even these will ultimately be embedded in and informed by broader narratives that cannot be located within individual stretches of language. Ontological, public, conceptual, and Meta narratives have been distinguished by the Somers and Gibson. In this regard, personal history, personal stories that are told to the inner-self have been associated with the ontological narratives.

In nature, characteristics of social and interpersonal have been related with it, and self and immediate world is the main focus of these narratives. On the other hand, social and institutional formations larger than the individual are used for the circulation and elaboration of public narratives. In this regard, stories related to the American social mobility have been mentioned by the Somers and Gibson. The numerous and competing public narratives of the war on Iraq is one of the more recent example of public narratives. What happened? Why did it happen?

Who is responsible? Is it motivated by а bid (however misguided) to make the world а safer place or by imperialist interests in Iraqi resources? Conceptual narratives have been defined by Somers and Gibson as the construction of concepts and explanations that is done by being a social researcher. In addition, it has been argued by them that development of a social analytic vocabulary is the conceptual challenge that is posed by the narratives, by which the relational construction of social life, social organizations, and social identities is done as the narratives.

However, it seems that extension of this definition for the inclusion of disciplinary narratives in any field of study is both reasonable, as well as, productive. Thus, broad definition of conceptual narratives can be made in context of stories and explanations. In this regard, the world can be impact considerably by some of these stories or conceptual narratives, while immediate community of scholars in the relevant field is focused in limited form.