Between the Lines: Identity and Belonging in the Thai Translation of Letter for Black Lives

Southeast Asia Crossroads Podcast - CSEAS @ NIU

This podcast Dr Jones speaks with Drs Kanjana Thepboriruk and Laura Vilardell and examine the ways in which the team of volunteer Thai language translators navigated their own identities, the collaborative translation process, and the linguistic and cultural challenges of producing the 2020 Thai Letters for Black Lives. Thai was one of fifty-two languages used for translating the 2020 version. The discussion focusses on the ways that translators’ identities and stance informed the translation process, translation choices, and the end product. In particular, the study focuses on how the translators perform their identities, especially Thainess, during the metalinguistic discussions that were essential to the translation task and translation process. The findings contribute to and widen our understanding of Thainess and what it means to be Thai in diaspora.