How ethical are codes of ethics? Using illusions of neutrality to sell translations

While codes of ethics undoubtedly represent most working translators’ primary (or only) point of contact with the literature on ethics within the field of translation, scholars readily acknowledge that these documents offer contradictory and sometimes confusing guidelines. After synthesising a range of discussions of codes of ethics to outline key areas of weakness, this article goes on to question why it is that such major shortcomings are yet to be addressed. It argues that, despite ostensibly offering a set of rulings designed to aid translators in their daily work and ethical decision-making, these codes can also function as client-facing documents that indirectly help translation agencies and associations to sell translations and memberships. This is achieved by developing a sense of trust and confidence around a skewed image of the translation process and a fictional construction of the translator as a neutral conduit, which overrides genuine ethical insight to increase status and to reassure clients that their ‘message’ will remain intact. Not only does this present issues regarding transparency and integrity, it also forces us to question the assumption that the codes themselves are automatically ethical. Finally, I suggest changes that may enable us to build towards a code of ethics that offers an empowering image of translation as an active, multi-faceted activity that requires expert knowledge and judgement, while openly recognising its inevitably manipulative basis