Interpreting - Volume 14, Issue 2, 2012

This article explores the history in Europe of the training of interpreters specialized in diplomacy, which began in the Renaissance Venetian Republic, when this European power started to train the so-called giovani di lingua in its embassy in Constantinople. The Venetian model was imitated and developed by other European powers, especially by France and the Austrian monarchy, trying to strengthen their relations with the Ottoman Empire by training their own jeunes de langues and Sprachknaben, respectively. In Spain the equivalent figure, the joven de lenguas, emerged later, in the last third of the 18th century, and there is evidence of several proposals to create a Spanish school to train these youngsters. The profile of the selected jóvenes who would serve at the Spanish embassies and consulates in foreign regions is also analyzed. Finally, the Spanish example is compared with the pioneering European models, especially with the Venetian, the French and the Austrian ones.

This paper examines the experience, perceptions and narratives of the interpreters who worked at the trial of the Madrid terrorist attacks of 11th March 2004. Using semi-structured interviews as an instrument, information was sought from the members of the interpreting team regarding their role and self-image, their relationship with other professionals during the trial, their management of emotions, pressure and possible conflict, as well as the effect of a high profile case such as this on their interpreting performance. The findings show that the interpreters were generally clear and confident about their professional role and capacity, that their working conditions were inadequate, especially at the beginning of the trial, and that the experience heightened the awareness of other court professionals with regard to interpreting. The nature of the trial, the presence of national and international media, as well as the immense responsibility the interpreters assumed in this case created an atmosphere of intense emotion and pressure. However, most of the participants in this study reported that this did not affect their professional performance.

The growing interest in studies based on samples of authentic interpreting data goes hand in hand with the need to think of adequate methodologies to make such data available for research. During the 1980s, transcription issues posed a series of theoretical questions which may now be worth revisiting in the light of recent debates in Interpreting Studies (IS), and of new methodological instruments. Building on the premise that nothing is as practical as good theory, this paper aims at informing decisions on transcribing interpreting events. It first reviews some general theoretical issues involved in any transcription of oral data, and then engages with issues that are particular to IS.

This paper examines the mediation role of government staff interpreters in China. Based on data collected from six political meetings involving senior officials of Guangdong Province, with interpreting performed by staff interpreters in the Protocol Department of the Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Guangdong, the paper analyzes cases of personal pronoun shifts in the rendition of the interpreters. Results show that personal pronoun shifts occur in all of the interpreted dialogues, and can be divided into: (1) personal pronoun shifts with the same footing, including shifts between first person and third person pronouns and shifts between second person and third person pronouns, (2) personal pronoun shifts with a different footing, for purposes of avoiding misunderstanding or impoliteness, coping with frequent changes of speaking subjects, and correcting an error in the rendition. The paper argues that government staff interpreters of dialogues, with all the constraints posed by the political settings, do not always conform with the norms and rules, but perform a mediation role in communication.

Studies of court interpreting have so far neglected interpreters’ choice of mode for interpreting question–answer dialogues, though their choice of mode may impact the way questions and answers are reproduced and received by end receivers. Typically, the (short) consecutive mode, regarded as the more complete mode, is recommended for interpreting these dialogues, because it facilitates the inclusion of features such as hesitations, discourse markers, repetitions etc. which play a significant role in identifying speaker meaning. Moreover, in courts without interpreting equipment, answers interpreted in the simultaneous (whispered) mode will be inaudible to end receivers. Nevertheless, as demonstrated in this article, which is based on a survey among court interpreters in Denmark, some interpreters ignore official recommendations and choose strategies for interpreting questions and answers which potentially hinder the flow of information between the original speaker and listener and the accurate and complete translation of original utterances. Furthermore, Danish courts seem to accept the court interpreters’ behaviour, despite its potential consequences for trial outcomes. The article discusses the reasons for this passivity and its wider implications.

The aim of this article is to describe and analyse the working conditions of interpreters and interpreting services in Sweden. An understanding of interpreters’ working conditions is a key to such factors as the management of resources, the reading and implementation of legislation, the organisation of interpreting services and the performance of interpreters in different situations. An understanding of interpreters’ working conditions is also important in understanding how multiculturalism and multilingualism are viewed on a national scale in Sweden. This review of the working conditions of interpreters is based on material from two joint research projects, which appear to indicate that interpreters as a group have much to say and often reflect on their work and working conditions. The interpreters participating in this study often demonstrated a strong commitment to professionalism. At the same time, however, many of the reflections recorded for this study were about things that undermine professionalism: bad working conditions, low pay, the feeling of being “as replaceable as potatoes”, and the feeling that the social status of interpreters is low. In analysing the consequences of working conditions we have found a tension between professionalism and deprofessionalisation. This tension has consequences for the rule of law and integration.