Crisis communication and linguistic diversity in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic: Focus on interpreting and translation services

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected some inhabitants of Norway more than others. Even in the first wave, foreign-born immigrants had more confirmed infections and were hospitalized more frequently than other residents (Indseth et al., 2020). One factor seems to be a lack of information in languages other than Norwegian. Strategic communication of pandemic policies to those who do not speak Norwegian has not functioned on an operational or a grassroots level (NOU, 2021, p. 175). However, after some initial confusion, translations of government information become available on a multitude of platforms. Public service employees,  NGOs, and mediators were involved in targeted information campaigns. This article traces the state of translation and interpretation, including availability, accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability, during the first year  and a half of the Covid-19 pandemic (March 2020 – September 2021) in Norway. Among other issues, the article highlights the importance of making translation and interpreting essential services in future contingency plans.