A PIETRA translation event: “Doing Disinformation Research Across Languages: Conceptual, methodological, and political challenges”
20 April, 16:00-17:30
The Bridge Room, THB-1001, Hardiman Building, University of Galway
Speaker: Neil Sadler, Associate Professor of Translation Studies (University of Leeds)
Abstract: Since the mid-2010s, there has been an explosion of research into ‘disinformation’ across a host of disciplines. Frequently, however, this body of literature has generated more heat than light and a number of deeply challenging issues have arisen. Oft-repeated definitions of disinformation as ‘false and misleading information’ have increasingly struggled in the face of the complexity of real-world communications. Earlier framings of disinformation as an epistemological problem are increasingly (but unevenly) giving way to more overtly political perspectives. The extent and nature of the harms that disinformation brings about remain poorly understood. Basic methodological problems remain with how (and whether) disinformation should be separated from other kinds of content in analysis. The field remains stubbornly ahistorical and largely separate from long-established debates on propaganda and strategic communication. Radical shifts in the discursive environment have seen the discourse of disinformation successfully appropriated by authoritarian and quasi-authoritarian actors. Drawing on research I and colleagues have conducted as part of the project (Mis)Translating Deceit: Disinformation as a translingual, discursive dynamic, my talk will propose tentative responses to these issues and explore the extent to which ‘disinformation’ remains a useful analytical framework through which to approach its object of study.
