Current research on machine translation (MT) generally neglects its end-users, with the exception of translation students and/or professionals. However, marginalised groups, such as migrants, use different translation apps in their daily life to overcome language barriers in geographical, social and cultural spaces. These include not only classical text-to-text machine translation, but also speech-to-speech, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, or augmented translation functions, which can be accessed on smartphones.
In order to investigate where and for what purposes migrant women living in Graz (Austria) use translation apps, I am conducting a participatory research project, with the acronym DiMiTra (Digiatlisation, Migration, Translation). Five women, respectively with Chinese, Persian, Ukrainian, Polish, and Bulgarian as their first languages, are participating in the project as co-researchers. We are collecting the data from October 2023 to March 2024 in three workshops using the mapping and photovoice method. The mapping method targets the spaces in which female migrants use MT in their everyday lives. With the photovoice method, it is possible to elicit the content that is translated with MT. The preliminary data, collected in the first workshop with the mapping method, show that MT permeates all areas of daily life. It is applied at home, at work, in institutional settings, and in the medical context. As could be determined, MT is not only used in, but also to prepare for a conversation, mostly regarding medical purposes. In addition, it was found that augmented translation functions such as Google Lens are also frequently used, for example, to translate letters from authorities or to read local newspapers. These preliminary findings demonstrate the need for translation studies to move away from the dichotomy human vs. machine, and rather analyse the translation process from a critical Posthumanism perspective that recognises the interconnectedness between living and non-living matter. We ask how translation is realised on the level of the micro-practices of everyday life, who is involved, why and for what purpose.
In the proposed poster presentation, I aim to show the different spaces where translation apps are used, as well as the translational practices of migrant women.