My starting point in this article is the community interpreter who works in social, medical and legal settings, under specific conditions, confronting very delicate ethical problems. In search of a theoretical framework that accounts for the social roles and cultural identities of the community interpreter I began to re-read the German anthropologist and conference interpreter Heinz Göhring. His articles can be positioned between German Studies (‘Deutsch als Fremdsprache‘), intercultural communication studies (including cultural anthropology) and translation studies. I start out with his view of an ideal translator/ interpreter as cultural expert acting like a “mini-ethnographer” and try to go beyond Göhring by connecting his ideas to the concept of the critical ethnographer as model for a professional community interpreter. In this theoretical discussion I want to show how a synthesis of the framework proposed by Göhring and recent anthropological theories can be used for a new professional profile of the interpreter, not only in community settings but in general. Besides aspects concerning translation/ interpreting politics, I wish to foreground that a re-thinking of interpreter roles would/ should also affect translation/ interpreting pedagogy and research.Dans les domaines du droit, de la santé et des services sociaux, l’interprète communautaire se voit confronté à des problèmes éthiques particulièrement délicats. Tout en recherchant un cadre théorique adéquat pouvant expliquer les rôles sociaux et les identités culturelles de l’interprétation communautaire, j’ai entrepris une re-lecture du sociologue et interprète de conférence allemand Heinz Göhring. Ses articles se situent entre les disciplines allemandes comme langue étrangère, les recherches interculturelles, incluant l’anthropologie culturelle, et la traductologie. Dans un premier temps, je décrirai sa perspective du traducteur/interprète idéal comme expert culturel. Ce dernier agit comme « mini-ethnologue ». Je tenterai d’aller plus loin que Göhring en liant sa pensée avec le concept de l’ethnologue critique en tant que modèle pour l’interprète communautaire professionnel. Je voudrais démontrer dans cette discussion théorique comment une synthèse du cadre proposé par Göhring peut être combinée avec des théories anthropologiques actuelles, non seulement dans le domaine communautaire, mais aussi en général. En plus des aspects concernant la politique de la traduction et de l’interprétation, je voudrai souligner que la révision des rôles de l’interprète doit également influencer la pédagogie et les recherches de la traduction et de l’interprétation
Interpreters perceive, listen, see and speak in the name of the Other, both in the language of the symbolically and/or practically oppressed Other and in the language of the oppressor. Yet in doing so, they paradoxically use their own voice and language. As there can be no neutral part in mis/communication and as there is no objective way of perceiving, analyzing, and processing information and emotions, professional interpreters must position themselves. Numerous examples from situations where interpreters act as intermediaries between the dominating and violating agents of societies/states and migrants, refugees, and members of minoritized and oppressed communities illustrate the challenges involved in simultaneously representing and mediating the speech of the Other. In settings like detention camps, asylum seekers’ sanctuaries, refugee camps, and prisons where asylum seekers are kept under custody before deportation, as well as in occupied territories and areas of military conflict, the interpreter is faced with the responsibility of serving as the “expert” of the in-between. Interpreters play a participant role in the interplay of power as an active performer. Their gaze disrupts and their voice intervenes. Thus, I argue that, as an important pillar of professionalism, interpreters must be sensitized and trained to cope with the dangers and opportunities of their in-between position and of their status as the third party to a communicative act. Interpreters should be trained to reflect critically and honestly on their involvement as participant observers.
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