Interpreting: April 2005 Archives

Interpreting is akin to translation. Translators work with written texts, and have time with which to consider structure, meaning, flow. Interpreters work in the moment, utlizing judgment, mediating relationships as much as any information transfer in the communicative process.

"Translation produces out of seeming 'incommensurabilitiess...neither an absence of relationship between dominant and dominating forms of knowledge nor equivalents that successfully mediate between differences, but precisely the opague relationship we call 'difference'" (Chakrabarty, 2000: 17).

I went to the opening of The Interpreter tonight with my favorite odd couple...great acting but the story was, well, just a story.

There was hardly any interpreting: a few flawlessly delivered scenes from the booth, and one short small group meeting. Obviously the interpreter has to manage her emotions in the face-to-face setting, which she does (of course). Then hesitates only slightly before breaking confidentiality with UN Security.

The revised code of ethics includes:

Tenet 4.2

“Interpreters recognize the right of consumers to make informed decisions. Choices could include but are not limited to, selection of interpreter, seating arrangements, and interpreting dynamics.”