Book Description
This book explores the growing tension between multilingualism and monolingualism in the European Union in the wake of Brexit, underpinned by the interplay between the rise of English as a lingua franca and the low status of translations in EU bodies, agencies and institutions. The book draws on an interdisciplinary approach highlighting insights from such fields as sociolinguistics, translation studies, and philosophy of language in looking at data drawn from official EU documents and online resources, many of which are increasingly initially produced in English and then translated into other languages, but not published as translations. In analyzing this data further, Leal explores issues around language hierarchy and the growing difficulty in reconciling the EU's approach to promoting multilingualism while fostering monolingualism in practice through the widespread use of English as a lingua franca, as well as questions around authenticity in the translation process and the boundaries between source texts and translations. The volume also looks ahead at the current and future implications of Brexit regarding this tension while also proposing potential ways forward toward resolving it. Offering unique insights into contemporary debates in translation studies, this book will be of particular interest to students and scholars in translation studies, sociolinguistics, philosophy of language and political science
