Language and Translation in Accounting: A scandal of silence and displacement?

Abstract

Purpose: This introduction to the AAAJ special issue on language and translation in accounting aims to address the ‘deafening silence’, raise awareness and start serious debates about the integral role of language and translation, broadly defined, in all aspects of accounting research and practice. Design/methodology/approach: We first highlight our motivation for calling a special issue on language and translation. We then introduce the contributions to this special issue. Finally, we call on accounting researchers to start taking up the challenge to think about language and translation and their implications on the creation of knowledge in interdisciplinary accounting research. Findings: The accounting research agenda is lagging behind many other disciplines in its attention to the ‘translation turn’ in social sciences. This introductory special issue calls for an “awakening”, especially in interdisciplinary accounting research, to how the process of translating languages, cultures and ideas embedded in all research, impact our journeys towards innovative and inclusive knowledge creation exercise. Originality/value: Accounting research has, to date, paid only limited attention to language and translation. This paper challenges the interdisciplinary accounting community to engage with translation, and introduces papers published in this AAAJ special issue, which outline opportunities for future research as well as policy implications.