The task of the activist translator in asylum-seeking settings: the case of English translation of <i>No Friend but the Mountains</i>

The emergence of conditions such as migration, asylum-seeking, and dislocation compels translators to navigate complex agendas in these emergent settings. Despite the growing interest in translation as a form of activism, there have been few studies exploring the convergence of translation studies and theories of activism. Against this backdrop, the current study adopts the perspective of translation as a form of activism in order to throw light on Omid Tofighian’s role as an activist through a case study of Behrouz Boochani, a prominent human rights advocate and an asylum seeker detained from 2013 to 2019 in different carceral sites. The central argument is that Tofighian addresses the plight of Boochani and his fellow asylum seekers while incorporating his own agendas through paratextual elements in Boochani’s novel, No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison. The findings reveal that Tofighian’s agenda amplifies the voices of asylum seekers, conceptualize the pain and experiences in concrete terms, and promote transnational discourse on refugeehood. The implications of this study provide a foundation for analysing the translator’s role as a vital actor who makes every attempt at his disposal to bring about political and social changes through translation with an activist mission.