Experiencing the interpreter’s role

Abstract

Abstract This paper proposes an affective approach to examining the interpreter’s role. More specifically, it suggests that, by considering the interpreters’ subjective feelings of involvement and detachment related to an interpreted event, we can examine the ways in which their role is constructed, within and through a combination of personal, social, and material factors related to the setting and the interpreter’s working conditions. As an example, I take the case of simultaneous interpreting in two religious settings, which I have studied with autoethnography. Thus, I analyze my experiences of interpreting in two religious settings and contrast these experiences to an “ideal” model of the interpreter’s role in such settings: that of the fully involved participant. The analysis indicates that, while an internalized ideal model of role may provide a point of reference for reflection, the actual experience of role emerges in a complicated interaction between personal, social, and material aspects.