Translation-9/11: Terrorism, Immigration, and the World of Global Language Politics

The 9/11 tragedy, followed on its heels by the Iraq invasion and occupation, has contributed significantly to a renewed focus on translation in film, fiction, academic research, and the media. This heightened public interest in translation-related issues suggests a growing national language panic subsumed within a general fear of war all around. There is a heightened awareness today that something as nano-scaled as a translation error can precipitate catastrophic intelligence failures, and in the worst case scenario another 9/11.