Localizing the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar: Interpreters’ narratives of cultural, temporal and spatial reconfiguration of practice

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted people’s professional and personal life in different ways across the globe. Adopting an enlarged view of localization which goes beyond market interests and extends to public concerns, this paper aims to examine the adaptive processes through which interpreters (and by extension providers and users) have localized the COVID-19 phenomenon in Qatar. To do so, it draws on an approach which combines narrative and practice theories. Considering that practices are storied and narratives are enacted, we focus on the ‘doings’ and the ‘sayings’ of interpreters. We present the findings of a case study conducted with Qatar-based interpreters. The primary data consists of qualitative, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with active interpreters across settings and levels of expertise in the Qatar interpreting industry. This sample allowed us to collect rich stories of interpreters’ experience at the height of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: between March 2020 and March 2021, coinciding in Qatar with the first lockdown and the subsequent easing of restrictions with the establishment of precautionary measures. The findings show that interpreters adapt to the COVID-19 crisis and contribute to its response in ways that are specific to the cultural, temporal and spatial configuration of practice.