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Translation and the Construction of Identity: Abstracts
Date: 12-14 August 2004
Venue: Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, Korea
Ian Mason Heriot Watt University, UK In face-to-face interpreter-mediated encounters, the
negotiation of identity is a constant activity of all participants. At this
interface between cultures and languages, behavioural mismatches become
evident to all concerned but are not necessarily understood in the same way.
This paper will look at such encounters in terms of an overall participation
framework, which may include bystanders as well as primary participants, and
examine both projected and perceived identities. In the first instance,
interpreters, through their choice of footing, elect to project themselves
either as a "non-person" or as a fully ratified participant in a triadic
exchange. The effect of this choice on other parties and of other parties on
this choice becomes apparent as the event unfolds. Beyond this, however, is
the attribution by any party of words and meanings to any other party,
thereby serving to construct a perceived identity. Fundamental to this
process is, for example, the perceived ownership of the meanings attaching
to an interpreter’s output. In sites of linguistic and cultural difference –
but even more so in sites of linguistic, cultural or situational inequality
– the ability of each participant to control/preserve his/her own identity
will be affected in a number of complex and interesting ways. Examples will
be adduced from a number of distinct dialogue interpreting settings –
courtroom interaction, immigration hearings, mass media interviews,
healthcare consultations – to illustrate what is at stake for the identity
of each participant.
Plenary Session
Projected and Perceived Identities in Dialogue Interpreting
© IATIS 2003