Interpreting for/ from Emergency/ Disaster Response to Crisis Management

Abstract

The adverse effects of globalized human activity on the environment have been known for decades, increasing numbers and sorts of emergencies, transforming into disasters and causing crises. Environmental changes, ozone depletion, and rising temperatures cause natural disasters such as floods, fires, earthquakes, and tsunamis, killing people and animals. Air pollution, increasing population, and enormous of waste flowing from the consuming hands of humankind, on the other hand, create man- made disasters cause pandemics, conflicts, economic instability, large- scale forced migration, conflict, famine, and potential disintegration of social and economic systems, which appear as emergencies turning into disasters and transform into crisis to be managed and communicated in every sector. Emergency response, disaster management, and lately developed crisis management need good communication. Community interpreters bridge different ideas and interests regardless of their work setting or surroundings. They provide interlingual and cross- cultural crisis management processes to meet various communication needs, as the literature reveals an increasing demand for improved intercultural communication among international humanitarian workers. ARÇ (Afette Rehber Çevirmenlik/ Emergency and Disaster Interpreters), initially named Interpreterin- Aid at Disasters (IAD), was founded after two major earthquakes in Türkiye in 1999 in a form of community interpreting, with the changes in operational systems of response mechanisms named Emergency Disaster Interpreters. This section presents the roles and evolvement of terms and concepts in emergency/ disaster/ crisis management/ interpreting using ARÇ example as a natural disaster interpretation initiative in Türkiye. It will leave triple dots as a cliffhanger, discussing man- made disasters, consequences, and communication actors.