Chapter 10. The interpreter as “anti-hero”

Abstract

Research on interpreters as authors of autobiographies has typically focused on the interpreting activity in authoritarian regimes, in trials, or diplomacy. A great number of the author-interpreters portray a hero figure positioned in often close relationship with the person in power. This chapter deals with another kind of interpreter figure who I will call “anti-hero”. The settings explored are the Great War, the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War, and Nazi concentration camps, as depicted in the interpreters’ memoirs. The chapter aims to elaborate on the main features of these anti-hero interpreters based on the framework proposed by Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson (2010), who suggest a set of concepts helpful for understanding the dynamic processes of autobiographical subjectivity, including memory, experience, or agency.