Økende innvandring har ført til at vertsland, som Norge, har sterkere politisk fokus på effektiv integrering. God interkulturell kommunikasjon krever gjensidig kulturell forståelse mellom for eksempel offentlige kontorer i vertslandet og innvandrerfamilien. Det er ikke mulig gjennom vanlig muntlig språk oversettelse, men krever en «kulturtolk» som kan forstå og tolke mellom ulike kulturelle kontekster.
Kulturtolking er et voksende forskningsfelt som har fått økt oppmerksomhet fra både myndigheter og akademia og blir sett på som et positivt tiltak i møte med etniske minoriteter.
This research project will explore the role of cultural interpreting in multicultural communication in the Norwegian context. Cultural translators or interpreters, also called kulturtolk in Norwegian, are relatively new in Norway. Despite this, the Norwegian public sector has initiated using cultural interpreters in many departments, including the Norwegian Child Welfare Services, Barnevernet, and the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, Bufdir. There is an increasing interest in professionalizing and promoting cultural interpretation and expanding it to other public and private spheres. Asylum reception centers, crisis centers, police stations, schools, health centers, and the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration are also possible departments that could benefit from cultural interpreters.
Research projects that have been conducted thus far praise and emphasize the importance of cultural interpreting in terms of resolving intercultural misunderstandings and bridging the gap between public officials and their clients. Some countries, such as Italy, have already started investing in cultural interpretation; there are currently higher education institutions that offer cultural translation studies and have separated the field of cultural interpretation as a distinct scientific field. Some other European countries also use cultural interpreters as an essential and effective element of intercultural communication. The vast majority of the literature indicates a knowledge gap in cultural interpretation as a separate scientific field. For example, the role of cultural interpreters, their responsibilities and education have not been defined.
