In and Off the Show: Co-constructing ‘invisibility’ in an Interpreter-Mediated Talk Show Interview1

Abstract

This paper examines how participants in an interpreter-mediated televised interview communicate involvement in a shared event. It takes as a case in point an interview where Michail Gorbachev, accompanied by his interpreter Pavel Palazchenko, appear on the ALL TALK show, hosted by the BBC journalist Clive Anderson. Detailed analysis of the interview demonstrates how the interpreter’s physical presence helps shape a shared image of him as someone “just translating.” It is suggested, that the efficiency by which his translation work is communicated, apart from owing to the interpreter’s fluency in English and Russian, is due to the others’ communicative behaviour. While addressing one another as conversational partners and interacting with the studio audience and the viewer, they cast him variably as sharing and not fully sharing their ongoing exchange. Moreover, his efficiency as interpreter is shown to be a result of his ability to anticipate grammatical and pragmatic features of turn composition. Overall, the study demonstrates how detailed analyses of real-life interpreter-mediated interaction can assist in explaining and teasing apart the illusive “invisibility” of interpreters.Cet article examine comment les participants à une interview télévisée assistée par un interprète signalent leur engagement dans un événement partagé. Un exemple est fourni par l’interview où Mikhaïl Gorbatchev, accompagné de son interprète Pavel Palazchenko, intervient dans le ALL TALK show, animé par le journaliste de la BBC Clive Anderson. Une analyse fouillée de l’interview montre comment la présence physique de l’interprète aide à modeler une image partagée de sa personne en tant que « simple interprète ». L’analyse montre que l’efficacité de son travail de traduction est due non seulement à sa parfaite connaissance de l’anglais et du russe mais aussi au comportement communicatif des autres. Tout en discutant ensemble comme des partenaires de conversation et interagissant avec l’auditoire du studio et le téléspectateur, ils lui attribuent à la fois un rôle de participant et de non-participant à leurs échanges. De plus, son efficacité d’interprète semble résulter de sa capacité à anticiper les dispositifs grammaticaux et pragmatiques de la composition des tours de paroles. Plus généralement, cette étude montre comment des analyses détaillées en temps réel des interactions assistées par un interprète peuvent aider à démêler et mieux comprendre l’invisibilité illusoire de l’interprète

‘There’s a letter called ef’ on Challenges and Repair in Interpreter-Mediated Tests of Cognitive Functioning in Dementia Evaluations: A Case Study

“…The use of interpreters in clinical interaction has also been in focus in research on medical education, e.g., in practising the communication skills of medical students (Lau et al 2001). Whereas studies of the kind referred to above provide important insights into medical interpreting in terms of perceptions, viewpoints and reported experiences, few studies have been qualitative in nature, highlighting the actual practices of participants in situ on a moment-by-moment basis, demonstrating what is being done during an interpreted event (However, see Angelelli 2003Angelelli , 2004Bolden 2000;Bridges et al 2011;Hsieh 2009;Raymond 2014;Wadensjö 1993Wadensjö , 1998Wadensjö , 2002Wadensjö , 2008. The work by Bolden (2000), and Raymond (2014) are especially close to the scope of the present article, since both sources utilize CA in order to explore instances in which the interpreter is an active collaborator in the mediated encounter, either as an Bepistemic broker^ (Raymond 2014), or in terms of acting out of assumptions on what is medically relevant at a specific point of talk (Bolden 2000).…”

“…The approach to interpreting with which the present study aligns is a dialogical one (Wadensjö 1993(Wadensjö , 1998(Wadensjö , 2002(Wadensjö , 2008, where the interpreter is viewed as an active agent, whose actions are dependent on the interplay with and between interlocutors and the environment. This is a perspective that differs from the traditional notion of interpreters functioning as neutral message transmitters (See Angelelli 2003Angelelli , 2004Hsieh 2009, for discussions).…”

“That is not necessary for you to know!”

“…Such side-sequences were often initiated as other-repair, either by the interpreter or by somebody else, and had to do with trouble in speaking, hearing or understanding (Schegloff et al 1977). In this role the interpreter occupies the position of a primary participant who initiates or contributes to a subordinate activity that is inserted into the jointly focused interaction (Wadensjö 2008). An example of a repair-initiated sequence is given in (1) where the caseworker asks about the relatives the girl stayed with back in her home country.…”

“…In the present study we use a qualitative method when focusing on side-sequence talk. We chose a discourse analytic approach since this method views naturally occurring talk as social interaction and as communicative events in which content and social relations are negotiated and determined (Wadensjö 2008). The analysis is based on ethnographic background information and on an analysis of the actual discourse.…”

“…Adults, motivated by their concern to promote the participation rights of these groups of clients, might tend to foreground themselves as mediators, supporters and coordinators of talk, and may distance themselves from their principal roles as care providers and decision-makers (Finlay et al 2008). This applies equally to community interpreters, who are often negotiated into assuming a more interventionist role than the one prescribed by their professional code (Wadensjö 1998(Wadensjö , 2008Roy 2000).…”