European Forum of Sign Language Inter

Let's have a fika - Culture in a cup Interpreting in, between and about Cultures European Forum of Sign Language Inter

These are the proceedings of the annual conference of the European Forum of Sign Language Interpreters that took place in Malmö, Sweden, in 2019.

In Sweden, one of the most important daily activities is the ritual of having a fika. "Having a fika" - "Having a coffee break" is actually more about socialising than drinking coffee. It is a social institution. A real cultural meeting point with friends or colleagues for a chat, a moment of relax and, of course, a cup of great coffee with a sweet treat.



We have borrowed this cultural touchstone of Sweden to discuss about sign language interpreting and, more precisely, when interpreting occurs in, between and about cultures.

In line with the conference theme, discussion was open to share experiences, academic research outcomes and to investigate how sign language interpreters and interpretation/translation processes have been involved in many ways with and related to Deaf Culture/s and communities' values and what developments have occurred in the sign language interpreting field over the half century.