2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
A study on interpreters and interpreting in wartime language policy and war crimes, drawing on class B/C war crimes trials against the Japanese
| Project/Area Number |
17K02988
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Foreign language education
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| Research Institution | Rikkyo University |
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Principal Investigator |
TAKEDA Kayoko 立教大学, 異文化コミュニケーション学部, 教授 (60625804)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
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| Keywords | 戦時通訳者 / BC級戦犯裁判 / 被告人としての通訳者 / 証人としての通訳者 / 通訳者の共同責任 / 通訳者の可視性 / 通訳内容の遂行性 / アジア・太平洋戦争 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
This study concerned issues of languages in war. It mainly examined wartime interpreters as defendants and eyewitnesses of war crimes at post-Asia-Pacific-War British military trials against the Japanese. By paying attention to the historical and geopolitical contexts and the role of interpreters in violent conflict, it discussed the issues of interpreters’ visibility and risk of being "concerned in" war crimes, focusing on the "performativity" of what they interpreted, their "illusory agency" and joint responsibility in taking part as interpreters in unlawful acts such as torture. This study also discussed how the US, Britain, Australia and Canada recruited and trained wartime Japanese linguists as well as how the Japanese military recruited Taiwanese and local civilians in Japanese-occupied territories as interpreters. The findings of this study were presented through publications and lectures in international settings, reaching audiences in diverse academic disciplines.
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| Free Research Field |
翻訳通訳研究
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
戦時通訳者が戦犯として有罪判決を受ける、また、戦争犯罪の目撃者として法廷で証言を行う、という特異な事例に注目し、その背景と裁判内容を提示し、現代の戦争・紛争で通訳者が直面する課題と関連づけて論じたことは、新奇性という意味で学術的意義があるだけでなく、社会的意義があると考える。特に、本研究が提示した戦時通訳者の可視性、違法行為への関与リスク、訳出内容の「遂行性」、所属部隊の行動に対する共同責任などの課題は、従来から唱えられてきた通訳者の「黒子的」役割、中立性、守秘義務といった考えに一石を投じるものである。さらに、戦時言語官の養成に関する研究は、安全保障や諜報における現代的課題にも通じると考える。
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