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Recent developments in translation studies since the 1990s have focused on the ideological implications of translation, seeing the role of the translator as an interventionist and a mediator. This new paradigm overcomes the idea that translation is a mimetic task that consists merely of transferring meaning from one language to another, but rather it is associated with political processes which may involve domination, oppression, submission or resistance amongst social groups and communities. Recognition is given to the capacity of translation to forge social and cultural change. Postcolonial contexts have proven to be particularly fertile for the study of ideological issues related to translation insofar as they reflect a situation of inequality between language communities. In these contexts, translation can be used as a political artefact either to perpetuate colonial domination or to fight against it. As a result, the 1990s have seen the emergence of postcolonial translation theories. These new theories are not only applicable to contexts that are most commonly identified as postcolonial, but to any type of situation where there exists inequality between the two systems in which translation takes place (e.g., in subaltern cultures where the practice of translation can become a means of resistance against a situation of cultural domination and a channel of self-definition). In this regard, the situation of Galicia in the 1920s and 1930s is paradigmatic and it offers invaluable grounds for the study of translation when used as an ideological instrument in the struggle for the search and construction of a national identity. During this period a group of intellectuals, widely known as Xeración Nós, emerged in the region concerned with the articulation of a nationalist discourse based on the cultural and political differentiation of Galicia with regard to the rest of Spain. Their nation-building project was a response to a situation of cultural oppression, long imposed by the Spanish state represented by Castile, and it was based on the concepts of Celticism and Atlanticism. Resorting back to the alleged Galician ancestors, the Celts, they strove to establish affinities with the other so-called Celtic nations of Northern Europe, particularly Ireland, in order to include Galicia within the Celtic mythological tradition and, by extension, within a new Atlantic civilisation opposed to the Mediterranean one which they associated with Spain. Within this well planned ideological agenda, translation of Irish literary texts played an essential role as it was used as a political tool to establish the abovementioned affinity with Ireland. From the selection of the texts to be translated to the actual discourse strategies used by the translators, translation became a process of appropriation and manipulation to support ideological ends. Focusing on the translations of the Irish poet and playwright W.B. Yeats, the most translated Irish writer of the period and profoundly admired by the Galician intelligentsia, this thesis intends to explore how translation was used in a subversive and manipulative way to show Galicia’s distinctiveness and to build a national identity resisting cultural domination. Therefore, I will demonstrate the capacity of translation to shape cultures and to aid and support cultural and social change.

According to 2§ of the Swedish Library Act, libraries shall work towards the development of a democratic society by spreading knowledge and providing people with the possibility to form their own opinions (SFS, 2013:801). It’s a natural consequence that Sweden’s national minorities are not provided with the same amount of services as the majority community, however the extent of how much space the minorities ought to be given in public libraries is a relatively unexplored research topic. This thesis uses a normative and argumentative structure to argue that public libraries ought to be prioritized more in the promotion of language and cultural rights for the Sami minority in Sweden. All of the Sami languages are defined as endangered according to the UN organization UNESCO, which makes the promotion of them a relatively urgent issue if the languages are wished to be preserved. The theoretical framework consists of Will Kymlicka’s arguments about equality and cultural diversity as a justification for group-specific rights, as well as David’s Crystal’s discussion on how to efficiently avoid language death. The arguments focus both on the linguistic and cultural benefits of an increased promotion of Sami related services in public libraries. It also highlights, and tries to tackle, potential issues such as the experienced lack of published Sami literature in Sweden.

Kultur är något som i vardagen styr hur människor värderar, tänker, tror och tycker. Det påverkar också hur vi tar oss an ett visst problem och handskas med det. Funktionsvariation är något som existerar i hela värden men ändå är det så olikt hur vi människor väljer att bemöta det. När vår värld globaliseras allt mer bidrar detta till att fler och fler kulturer tvingas samexistera trots dessa spridda värderingar som kan förekomma. En internationell synvinkel var eftertraktat i uppsatsen och därför gjordes en komparativ litteraturstudie där nio vetenskapliga artiklar från fyra olika länder undersöktes. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur dessa fyra länder arbetar kultursensitivt. Teorin som valdes för att granska materialet var den postkoloniala teorin eftersom teorin belyser de maktstrukturer som existerar kulturellt efter postkolonialismen och hur detta påverkar människor än idag. Det resultat som gavs från artiklarna delas in i motiv till, utförande av och resultat från kulturkompetens. Det som samtliga artiklar trycker på är hur organisationerna måste rekrytera personal från olika kulturella bakgrunder samt kunna ge ut information på de språk som målgruppen talar. Resultatet belyser att även att socialarbetarna behöver reflektera kring både deras egen kultur och läsa in sig i hur andra kulturer normalt sätt ser på funktionsvariation. I diskussionen belyses de maktrelationer som det sociala arbetet bygger på och att det är viktigt för en person tillhörande en majoritetskultur att kritiskt kunna reflektera över sina egna värderingar i relation till en klient från en minoritetskultur. Behovet av att rekrytera personal från olika kulturella bakgrunder samt även kritik till kulturell kompetens lyfts upp. Slutsatsen genomsyras av om huruvida det är den kulturella kompetensen som endast är viktigast i arbetet med människor från olika kulturella bakgrunder eller om det riskerar att bidra till generalisering och stigmatisering av minoritetsgrupper. Istället betonas vikten av att det postkoloniala synsättet värderas högre då detta förser socialarbetaren med ett maktperspektiv som blir av vikt i arbetet med denna utsatta grupp. / Culture is something that in everyday life control people’s opinions, how they value, think and believe. It also affects how we deal with a problem and work with it. Different ability is something that exists in the whole world ​​but still it differs how people choose to respond to it. As our world becomes increasingly globalized, this contributes to more and more cultures being forced to coexist despite these scattered values ​​that may occur. An international perspective of cultural competence was the main interest, therefore a comparative literature study was made in which nine scientific articles from four different countries were examined. The purpose of the study was to investigate how these four countries work culturally sensitive. The theory chosen for examining the material was the postcolonial theory since the theory highlights the power structures that exist culturally after postcolonialism and how this still affects people today. The result given from the articles is divided into motives for, performance of and results from cultural competence. What all articles imprint is how the organizations must recruit staff from different cultural backgrounds and be able to publish information in the languages ​​that the target group speaks. The social workers also need to reflect on both their own culture and study how other cultures normally look at people with different abilities. The discussion sheds light on the power relations that social work is based on and that it’s important for a person belonging to a majority culture to critically reflect on their own values ​​in relation to a client from a minority culture. The need to recruit staff from various cultural backgrounds as well as criticism of cultural competence is highlighted. The conclusion is permeated by whether it’s the cultural competence that is the most important aspect in the work with people from different cultural backgrounds, or if it risks contributing to generalization and stigmatization of minority groups. Instead, it’s emphasized that the post-colonial approach is more valuable as this provides social workers with a power perspective that becomes important in the work with this vulnerable group.

This thesis is a comparative sociolinguistic study which describes and compares language choice among people with Hungarian background in Sweden and Finland and studies their views on the importance of the Hungarian language and Hungarian cultural heritage for identity. The future prospects of language maintenance and language shift and differences between the Swedish-Hungarians and the Finnish-Hungarians are discussed. A survey was completed among 50 Swedish-Hungarian informants and 38 Finnish-Hungarian informants during 2006. The survey was supplemented by in-depth interviews with 15 informants during 2007. The majority language, either Swedish or Finnish, is much more active in the second-generation Hungarians’ lives than Hungarian is. Hungarian is mostly used in the domain of family relations. The language choices made today are dependent on the informant’s situation during childhood, particularly the parents’ usage of the language and the ability to learn and use Hungarian, chiefly gained through contact with the parents’ mother country and other Hungarian speakers. For some informants, having Hungarian roots forms the sole foundation for belonging, while for others it is this heritage combined with the culture, the ability to use the language or specific character traits. The Hungarian background is most often seen as a treasure offering diversity in life. Finnish-Hungarians are generally more positive about their Hungarian background, have better competence in the language and a greater awareness of the culture than Swedish-Hungarians. The Hungarian language plays a central though often symbolic role. The most important conditions for minority language preservation are language competence together with the desire and opportunity to use it; whereof the largest deficit among second-generation Hungarians is knowledge of the Hungarian language. Only one-fourth of the informants have all of the conditions necessary to be able to maintain the language, which means that Hungarian is an endangered minority language in Sweden and Finland.

This thesis is a comparative sociolinguistic study which describes and compares language choice among people with Hungarian background in Sweden and Finland and studies their views on the importance of the Hungarian language and Hungarian cultural heritage for identity. The future prospects of language maintenance and language shift and differences between the Swedish-Hungarians and the Finnish-Hungarians are discussed. A survey was completed among 50 Swedish-Hungarian informants and 38 Finnish-Hungarian informants during 2006. The survey was supplemented by in-depth interviews with 15 informants during 2007. The majority language, either Swedish or Finnish, is much more active in the second-generation Hungarians’ lives than Hungarian is. Hungarian is mostly used in the domain of family relations. The language choices made today are dependent on the informant’s situation during childhood, particularly the parents’ usage of the language and the ability to learn and use Hungarian, chiefly gained through contact with the parents’ mother country and other Hungarian speakers. For some informants, having Hungarian roots forms the sole foundation for belonging, while for others it is this heritage combined with the culture, the ability to use the language or specific character traits. The Hungarian background is most often seen as a treasure offering diversity in life. Finnish-Hungarians are generally more positive about their Hungarian background, have better competence in the language and a greater awareness of the culture than Swedish-Hungarians. The Hungarian language plays a central though often symbolic role. The most important conditions for minority language preservation are language competence together with the desire and opportunity to use it; whereof the largest deficit among second-generation Hungarians is knowledge of the Hungarian language. Only one-fourth of the informants have all of the conditions necessary to be able to maintain the language, which means that Hungarian is an endangered minority language in Sweden and Finland.

No description available.