Interpreting in Asylum Procedures

Sheds light on previously neglected, under-explored aspects of communication within asylum settings

This book presents dialogist interpretation as an innovative method for examining interpreter-mediated encounters within asylum procedures, uncovering hidden layers of meaning by engaging with participants’ internal dialogues. It offers practical recommendations and calls for asylum reforms to enhance fairness and communicative equity.

This book introduces dialogist interpretation as an innovative approach within interpreting studies, offering a critical examination of interpreter-mediated asylum encounters. Based on a case study of a legal consultation in the Netherlands, the book reveals how internal dialogues, linguistic assumptions, institutional constraints and systemic biases influence credibility assessments and shape asylum narratives. Drawing on the author’s experience as a researcher, interpreter and former asylum seeker, this study examines the power dynamics between interpreters, legal professionals, asylum seekers and the institutional structures governing legal procedures. Through detailed textual analysis and reflective interviews, it demonstrates the active role interpreters play and offers a new paradigm for understanding and improving asylum procedures. Challenging dominant narratives and calling for systemic change, this book offers practical recommendations for interpreters, educators, legal professionals and policymakers as well as essential insights for scholars in interpreting studies, law and communication.