Abstract
Interpreting is one of the oldest human activities in the world and has an intrinsic relationship with central human experiences such as war, commerce and diplomacy. Regarding the first of these, war, military history has offered students of interpreting history a wide range of situations that have required the presence of translators and interpreters in times of war: code-breaking, prisoner interrogations and meetings on topics ranging from commonplace concerns to critical issues, to mention but a few.
The armistice talks are military. They are neither political nor diplomatic. Hence, in these discussions, the language of diplomacy is inappropriate and ineffective.
(General Ridgway, instructions to Vice Admiral Joy and the negotiating team 1)
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© 2012 María Manuela Fernández Sánchez
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Sánchez, M.M.F. (2012). A Bilingual Officer Remembers Korea: a Closer Look at Untrained Interpreters in the Korean War. In: Footitt, H., Kelly, M. (eds) Languages and the Military. Palgrave Studies in Languages at War. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137033086_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137033086_9
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