Podcast Summary

Found in Translation: Many Meanings on a North Australian Mission

New Books Network – Language on the Move

Host: Tazin Abdullah
Guest: Dr. Laura Rademaker
Air Date: February 25, 2026

Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation between linguist Tazin Abdullah and historian Dr. Laura Rademaker, focusing on Rademaker’s 2018 book, Found in Translation: Many Meanings on a North Australian Mission. The discussion explores the complex intersections of language, religion, and power on a Christian mission in northern Australia, revealing how language contact and translation shaped identities and relationships between Indigenous people and missionaries, as well as broader Australian citizenship.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Dr. Laura Rademaker’s Background and Research Motivation

• Personal and Academic Motivation:
  • Rademaker discusses her initial exposure to the topic during her honors thesis, which examined the complicity of her own church in the removal of Indigenous children during the Stolen Generations era ([01:37]).
  • Her Rotary exchange experience in Denmark heightened her awareness of the significance of language for smaller communities ([02:50]).
  • The question driving her research: “How did these people from completely different cultural backgrounds... communicate with each other? How did they understand each other?” ([01:54]).

The Relational Nature of Language and Translation

• Learning a Language as Hospitality:
  • Rademaker emphasizes language learning as a relational act, not merely a technical skill ([04:10]).
  • “[...] teaching someone your language is an act of hospitality, is an act of generosity. It's relational.” ([04:10]).

Translation: Blessing or Curse?

• Ambiguity of Translation:

  • Quoting her own preface, Rademaker reflects:

    • “Whether translation and all the ambiguities that might attend it was a blessing or a curse is a matter of interpretation.” ([04:45])

  • She challenges the idea that translation is inherently “imperfect,” arguing that ambiguities “create something new” in cross-cultural encounters ([05:10]).

  • In the missionary context, pursuit of a “perfect translation” clashed with realities of cultural difference and resistance ([05:55]).

    “You can say all translation is imperfect, but even the label imperfect kind of puts a value judgment on it that it's deficient, but it's those so-called imperfections that actually where there's something creative in this cross cultural encounter that can come out and there can be learning from different peoples.”
    – Dr. Laura Rademaker [05:12]

The Northern Territory: A Colonial and Linguistic Frontier

• Historical Context:
  • The Northern Territory represents "Australia's settler colonial frontier" and remains a place where colonization is recent and highly visible ([07:15]).
  • Oral histories show that the first encounters with white people are within living memory for many families ([08:06]).
• Linguistic Diversity:
  • Many Aboriginal languages remain strong and are spoken as first languages ([09:23]).
  • English feels “unnatural” in these communities; researchers must be learners in Indigenous language settings ([09:51]).

Early Missionary Failures & Assumptions about Translation

• Unsuccessful Early Missions:
  • Missions arrived concurrently with violent colonization, making conversion to Christianity fraught ([11:27]).
  • Misconceptions blame Aboriginal people for supposed lack of religious or cognitive abilities ([11:38]).
  • Structural factors: the lack of serious Bible translation efforts due to beliefs in Aboriginal extinction and the inevitability of assimilation to English ([12:38]).
• Excuses for Not Translating:

  • The multiplicity of Aboriginal languages is cited as a justification for promoting English ([14:17]-[14:44]).

    “It was due to the belief that Aboriginal people were destined to extinction or that if they were to survive, their future was going to be in English. [...] the belief in the universality of English.”
    – Dr. Laura Rademaker [13:32]

Indigenous Multilingualism: Strength, Not Deficit

• Centuries of Translation and Interpreting:

  • Indigenous communities have long histories of linguistic contact, both among themselves and with outsiders like the Makassan traders from Indonesia ([15:32]).

  • Multilingualism is the norm due to exogamous marriage patterns ([16:10]), and linguistic expertise is highly valued ([17:06]).

  • The term “Dura” – meaning paper/book/writing, of Arabic origin – exemplifies long-standing linguistic exchange ([17:24]).

    “This idea that you would be confined to just one language would be completely bizarre and unusual.”
    – Dr. Laura Rademaker [16:19]

• Government Policy and Language Dominance:

  • The 1950s government school syllabus for Aboriginal schools pushed English as a means to Australian citizenship ([18:22]).

Challenging Imperial Language Ideologies

• Reframing Multilingualism:
  • Rademaker interrogates the assumption that non-English speakers are inherently vulnerable; on the contrary, language can serve as resistance and agency ([20:03]).
• Notable Anecdote: 'Jesus Loves My Chest Hair'

  • A missionary, misunderstanding a translation, is given the word for “chest hair” instead of “me.” Rademaker argues this was a joke at the missionary’s expense, demonstrating Aboriginal agency and knowledge ([21:06]-[22:21]).

    “They used their language to set him up, to make a fool of themselves and to assert themselves as the knowledge holders anyway.”
    – Dr. Laura Rademaker [21:54]

Implications for Contemporary Australia

• Language and Identity:
  • English remains associated with citizenship, creating hierarchies of belonging and exclusion ([19:13]).
  • Rademaker calls for recognition of Australia's inherent multilingualism and the value of Indigenous linguistic heritage ([20:03]).

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “Teaching someone your language is an act of hospitality, is an act of generosity. It's relational.”
  – Dr. Laura Rademaker [04:13]

• “Whether translation and all the ambiguities that might attend it was a blessing or a curse is a matter of interpretation.”
  – Dr. Laura Rademaker [04:45]

• “This idea that you would be confined to just one language would be completely bizarre and unusual.”
  – Dr. Laura Rademaker [16:19]

• "I want to recover the agency of groups that are outside the dominant language community and show how they've shaped Australian history as well and show how their languages have been a source of strength."
  – Dr. Laura Rademaker [22:04]

• The “Jesus loves my chest hair” anecdote illustrates linguistic agency and humor, subverting missionary and colonial power ([21:06]-[22:21]).

Important Timestamps

• 01:37: Dr. Rademaker’s origin story and initial research motivation
• 04:10: Reflection on language learning as relational and hospitable
• 05:10: Philosophical dilemma of translation as blessing or curse
• 07:15 – 09:52: The unique context of the Northern Territory and the persistence of Indigenous languages
• 11:27 – 13:54: Early missionary failures, colonial violence, and language policy
• 15:32 – 19:13: Indigenous multilingualism, historical language contact, and resistance to English
• 21:06 – 22:21: 'Jesus Loves My Chest Hair' – humor, subversion, and linguistic agency
• 22:40: Rademaker’s ongoing and future research projects

Flow & Tone

The conversation is lively, personal, and reflective, balancing deep historical analysis with anecdotes and practical implications. Dr. Rademaker’s humility, critical perspective, and advocacy for historical multilingualism are pronounced. Humor and storytelling (notably the “chest hair” anecdote) soften the gravity of colonial and linguistic power dynamics, making the episode both thought-provoking and accessible.

Conclusion

Dr. Laura Rademaker’s Found in Translation not only uncovers the fraught and creative histories of language contact in northern Australian missions but also challenges listeners to reconsider contemporary language politics. Her work reveals the enduring strength and agency of Indigenous multilingualism, offering valuable insights for Australia’s ongoing debates on language, citizenship, and history.