When Izbjeglica and Muhadžir are Not Refugees: Translation in Focus

Abstract

ABSTRACT The interchanging of a word from one language to a seeming equivalent in another language is a practice that is underpinned by a universalist conceptualisation of the world. This method of translation is adopted by online services such as Google Translate, is common practice in bilingual dictionaries such as in English/Bosnian print dictionaries and has been adopted in numerous publications published in the English language that report on research conducted with speakers of the Bosnian language. One example is the prevalence of interchanging the English word ‘refugee’ for the Bosnian word ‘izbjeglica’ and visa versa. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted with Bosnian language speakers resident in Australia and Türkiye, this article describes how the practice of interchanging from one language to another results in the dismissal of meanings and argues that translation practices need to be given more attention in the field of migrant and refugee studies.