Post on 05-Dec-2014
description
The Real Value of
InterpretingCommunicating pluralingual relationships into the future . . .
Pluralingual: social interaction involving two or more languages
Thinking in Timestreams
American Deaf
Culture(US)
NurembergWar Crimes
Tribunal
EuropeanParliament
(EU)
Sign LanguageCommunity Interpreting
established 1964 (US)
The “IBM Translation System” of Simultaneous Interpreting, 1945
Conference Interpreting [Spoken Language] ~ Research Period 2005-2009
The “Big Bang” Enlargement of the European Parliament
Social Construction of ‘the interpreter’ as a Technology
Neustadt & May 1986
Kline & Pinch 1987Hughes 1987
2 Styles ofSimultaneous Interpretation
COMMUNITY CONFERENCE
UNDER=STANDING! IDENTITY! SPEED!
INFORM-ATION!
Shared Identifications Shared Identifications
Mistakes, MisunderstandingsDanger, Risk, Loss
Interpreters
Interpreters
Interpretees
Interpretees
“Interpreting” “Oral Translating”
Learning from Failure
A Center that Shifts
Breaks down during turntaking between sign and speech (inter-modal,
across two mediums).
Breaks down during voting (too fast) and relay interpreting (too
slow).
“The IBM System”
Doesn’t break down in relay: interpreters are allowed to
“hold time” & ensure understanding.
Interpretation itself is considered “noise”–
the social failure to adapt isnot questioned
Erasure OR preservation of difference depends on the
rate of interpretation deemed socially
acceptable.
Interpreting in the European Parliament
“Normally people do not understand the difference
between interpretation and translation.
Translation remains there; interpretation is to allow people
to communicate.”
www.europarl.europa.eu
Two Orientations to Time
CULTURE
To interpret is to interact in the present
Interpreting is the stuff of ritual
Rituals are the substance of relationships
Relationships sustain society
CONTROL
To translate is to fix a meaning for the future
Translating is the exercise of power
Power reduces relationships to one dimension
Unilateral relations destabilize society
Three Values of Interpreting:
1. Interpreting makes time visible
2. Interpreting makes culture visible
3. Interpreting makes power visible
Potentials of Interpreting:
Interpreting helps us understand that all social interaction is
meaningfulInterpreting creates possibilities
for social
changecultural equality
new economiesreducing violencehuman survival
2 Discourses ofSimultaneous Interpretation
COMMUNITY CONFERENCE
UNDER=STANDING! IDENTITY! SPEED!
INFORM-ATION!
Shared Identifications Shared Identifications
Interpreters
Interpreters
Interpretees
Interpretees
HomolingualismPluralingualism
“Interpreting” “Oral Translating”
Interpreting as Stewardship
Interpreters enable the co-presence of difference and connection: ‘‘mistakes’ & ‘misunderstandings’ are evidence
of pluralingualism (i.e., of social reality) not ‘noise’ but the ‘engine’ interpretee’s utterances are the ‘fuel’
Interpreters cultivate meta-awareness = generally reliable but fallable “closure skills” require making assumptions insisting on speed inhibits innovation
Interpreters as Stewards
Lee & Llewellyn-Jones 2009
Role Space is• Dynamic• Reasoned• Situational• Negotiable
Requires “relational autonomy”~ Witter-Merithew, Johnson & Nicodemus 2010
Participant/InterpreteeParticipant/
Interpretee
Real Interpretingis a communication strategy for
SOCIAL RESILIENCE
develops capacities of listening
requires adaptation and flexibility
a democratic activity
emboldens the local
exercises strategic foresight –
Does humanity choose the homolingual illusion or the pluralingual possibility?
Turner 2007
Holding Time
To see a World in a Grain of Sand,And a Heaven in a Wildflower,Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, and Eternity in an hour.
~ William Blake
TimeIdentityCulture
InformationSocial RealityThe Future& You, Now