Translation and Language contact at the 19th and early 20th century municipal registry office
Judit Renneboog
In this thesis, Judit Renneboog investigates the use of written and oral translation in the preparation and adaptation of civil status records and other administrative and legal documents related to civil status. The corpus consists of archival material from several major cities of present-day Flanders and Wallonia and some smaller municipalities in East Flanders and Flemish Brabant.
“Contemporary clerks - Translation service”. Source: Collectie Archief Gent: Personeelszaken, D2/6²: Tijdelijke oorlogsbedienden 1914-1918, Tijdelijke bedienden- Vertaling.
“Contemporary clerks - Translation service”. Source: Collectie Archief Gent: Personeelszaken, D2/15: U. Vertaler.
“La Belgique de 1839”. Source: Atlas de la Wallonie, de la préhistoire à nos jours.
This research shines a spotlight on several key components. First, the focus is on written and oral language contact between civil status offices on the one hand and citizens, courts, notaries, other civil status offices and Belgian consulates on the other. In addition, various aspects of key players in the document-making process are examined: the language knowledge of sworn translators, the (un)conscious role of non-professional translators, the language knowledge and translation skills of aldermen, civil servants and officials and the testing of this knowledge and skills by the municipalities. Finally, (the evolution of) the form and organisation of a possible language and translation policy at different political levels are examined.
