“I understand the culture. So, I understand who is lying” – Language and cultural mediators as brokers and para-ethnologists

Abstract

The increasing linguistic and ethnic diversity in Germany due to growing numbers of refugees and asylum seekers presents state authorities in particular with challenges. How do they deal with situations of multilingualism? A look at the interactions of state officers and their increasingly diverse clientele illustrates the crucial underlying difference in language. To interpret different languages, and moreover to translate different normative ideas in everyday interactions, numerous institutions and state authorities rely on the support of a group that describes itself as language and cultural mediators, most of whom have bicultural backgrounds. Their translating services appear crucial for mutual understanding between the state officials and their clients; and therefore, for the whole functioning of bureaucratic processes.

This paper is based on my recent explorative fieldwork on language and cultural mediators in two German federal states. In the course of my research, I visited three social associations that offer language and cultural mediation and interviewed different language mediators as well as authorities, who had already used these or other language mediation institutions.  Moreover, I took part in a three-day training course for interpreters and tried to shadow and accompany language mediators in their job, as often I could.