Beyond translation and medicine: Initiating exchanges between translation studies and health humanities

The linguistic, social and ethical aspects of community interpreting that takes place in hospitals and general practices have been studied extensively; literature on the specificities of medical texts, terminology and translation has been flourishing. Considering that discourses around health and illness are dependent on languages for their transmission, impact, spread, acceptance and rejection in local settings, one can begin to appreciate the wealth of data, theoretical approaches and methods translation studies can offer in studying health and illness globally. Therefore, while this handbook ensures that well-established research areas in translation and medicine are covered, it also intends to open up new avenues of exchange between translation studies and health humanities by initiating research into previously neglected areas. It is increasingly recognised that 'medicine is only a minor determinant of health in human populations alongside other social factors'. The final stages of the editing process of this handbook were completed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.