Translators and interpreters are frequently found at the centre
of attempts to wage war or negotiate peace between opposing
factions. Translation and interpreting also serve a vital
function in communicating a conflict locally and globally, as
interested parties attempt to legitimize their actions, appeal
for assistance, and enlist support for their cause and the
condemnation of their stated enemy. The unavoidable independent
exercises of judgement that interpreters and translators make
through their participation in or re-narration of a conflict,
and the decisions that go with them, provide clear and strong
evidence for the lead role in the construction of meanings and
identities that interpreters and translators assume in
situations of conflict, irrespective of their historical or
geopolitical setting. This special issue of The Translator
explores the role of translators and interpreters in a number of
conflicts from the 20th century to the present. Drawing on
fictional and non-fictional texts, legal and pe