(Mis)translating Deceit: Disinformation’s Hidden Translingual Journey

Despite growing concern about disinformation, lack of knowledge about how the term originated, or how uses of that term change over time and across different languages and cultures, is seriously hampering our ability to counter it. This presentation, based on a new collaborative project initiated by Vera Tolz and Stephen Hutchings at the University of Manchester, will tell part of the story of disinformation’s hidden journey. The presentation draws on research carried out in a range of different national language corpora, which allows to pinpoint how the meanings and uses of the term ‘disinformation’ have changed over time and between cultures, and how those different meanings have shaped both one another, and practices associated with the term. The lecture will also present two examples of key narratives identified by contemporary disinformation trackers, demonstrating the perils of failing to account for the linguistic, cultural, and historical contexts in which those narratives are embedded.