Prof. Dr. Susan Berk-Seligson
Lecture on November 18th, 2021
Interpreting for the police: the need for professional interpreters in custodial interrogations
Prof. Dr. Susan Berk-Seligson is Research Professor and Professor Emerita of Spanish Linguistics at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The renowned linguist with a focus on sociolinguistics, forensic linguistics, pragmatics and discourse analysis as well as language and gender is extremely interesting both for the further expansion and deepening of the translation policy focus at the FTSK at JGU and for her expertise in a DFG proposal that is currently being prepared. In addition to a large number of publications and other main research areas, each of which is characterized by its particular political significance, Berk-Seligson is particularly notable for her two monographs on police interrogations in relation to Spanish-speaking accused (Coerced Confessions: The Discourse of Bilingual Police Interrogations, Mouton de Gruyter, 2009) and for interpreting in the courtroom (The Bilingual Courtroom: Court Interpreters in the Judicial Process, 1990, 2002 und 2017, The University of Chicago Press) international bekannt. Her articles have appeared in numerous journals: Pragmatics, Language in Society, Forensic Linguistics: The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law (more recently renamed, The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law), the International Journal of the Sociology of Language, Linguistics, Multilingua, La Raza Law Journal, Interpreting: International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting, and the Revista Iberoamericana de Discurso y Sociedad and she is on the advisory board of the following journals: The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law; the Journal of Interpreting: International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting; Translation & Interpreting: The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research; Revista Brasileira de Linguística Antropológica; International Journal of Law, Language and Discourse; and International Journal of Legal Translation and Court Interpreting.
In addition to a public lecture and a workshop, Berk-Seligson will be involved in the ongoing preparation of a DFG research project on “Heteroglossie und Gerichtsdolmetschen in Mexiko” (working title) from her host Prof. Dr. Martina Schrader-Kniffki will be involved.