Why bother? Institutionalisation, interpreter decisions and power relations
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Stephanie Jo Kent
Abstract
This paper presents a case for the re-enactment of power relations when macrosocial, organizational structure influences interpersonal communication. A microsocial effect of the professionalization of community interpreting (ASL/ English) is examined through two cultural discourses about the interpreter’s role and a theoretical application of Goffman’s notion of footing. Management of the communication process by interpreters has become a deeply meaningful and potent site of cultural struggle because of an institutional structuring of professional ambiguity regarding impartiality. This ambiguity has produced conditions under which evaluating the interpreter’s performance of role becomes a microsocial necessity – a site for the exercise of individual and cultural agency.
Abstract
This paper presents a case for the re-enactment of power relations when macrosocial, organizational structure influences interpersonal communication. A microsocial effect of the professionalization of community interpreting (ASL/ English) is examined through two cultural discourses about the interpreter’s role and a theoretical application of Goffman’s notion of footing. Management of the communication process by interpreters has become a deeply meaningful and potent site of cultural struggle because of an institutional structuring of professional ambiguity regarding impartiality. This ambiguity has produced conditions under which evaluating the interpreter’s performance of role becomes a microsocial necessity – a site for the exercise of individual and cultural agency.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements ix
- Foreword: Interpreting professions, professionalisation and professionalism 1
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Critical linking up
- Critical linking up 11
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Interpreters on duty in Interaction: Studies of micro dynamics
- The interpreter in multi-party medical encounters 27
- Interpreting in asylum hearings 39
- Conversational dynamics as an instructional resource in interpreter-mediated technical settings 53
- A data driven analysis of telephone interpreting 65
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Interpreters in the community: Studies of macro dynamics
- Interpreter-mediated police interviews 79
- Community interpreting in Poland 95
- Alternative futures for a National Institute of Translation 107
- The interpreter’s ‘third client’ 121
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Developing local standards
- The Swedish system of authorizing interpreters 135
- Establishment, maintenance and development of a national register 139
- From Aequitas to Aequalitas 151
- The California standards for healthcare interpreters 167
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Professional ideology: Food for thought
- Professionalisation of interpreting with the community 181
- Why bother? Institutionalisation, interpreter decisions and power relations 193
- The interpreter as advocate 205
- Professionalisation on interpreters 215
- Professional stocks of interactional knowledge in the interpreter’s profession 227
- Aristotelian ethics and modern professional interpreting 241
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Improving and assessing professional skills: Training initiatives and programmes
- Formative assessment 253
- Interpreter internship program 263
- On-line and between the lines 273
- A bachelor programme in interpreting 283
- From helpers to professionals 297
- Index 311
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements ix
- Foreword: Interpreting professions, professionalisation and professionalism 1
-
Critical linking up
- Critical linking up 11
-
Interpreters on duty in Interaction: Studies of micro dynamics
- The interpreter in multi-party medical encounters 27
- Interpreting in asylum hearings 39
- Conversational dynamics as an instructional resource in interpreter-mediated technical settings 53
- A data driven analysis of telephone interpreting 65
-
Interpreters in the community: Studies of macro dynamics
- Interpreter-mediated police interviews 79
- Community interpreting in Poland 95
- Alternative futures for a National Institute of Translation 107
- The interpreter’s ‘third client’ 121
-
Developing local standards
- The Swedish system of authorizing interpreters 135
- Establishment, maintenance and development of a national register 139
- From Aequitas to Aequalitas 151
- The California standards for healthcare interpreters 167
-
Professional ideology: Food for thought
- Professionalisation of interpreting with the community 181
- Why bother? Institutionalisation, interpreter decisions and power relations 193
- The interpreter as advocate 205
- Professionalisation on interpreters 215
- Professional stocks of interactional knowledge in the interpreter’s profession 227
- Aristotelian ethics and modern professional interpreting 241
-
Improving and assessing professional skills: Training initiatives and programmes
- Formative assessment 253
- Interpreter internship program 263
- On-line and between the lines 273
- A bachelor programme in interpreting 283
- From helpers to professionals 297
- Index 311
