Diplomatic and Political Interpreting Explained

Trumpslation Analysed: Constraints and Interpreter Strategies in the Simultaneous Interpretation of Donald Trump’s Unscripted Speeches into Arabic

“…It addresses the phenomenon of using unconventional language in the realm of politics and broadens our knowledge of the constraints it imposes on simultaneous interpretating and of the ways in which simultaneous interpreters intervene to make the communicated message intelligible. The study also suggests that explanation can be another category of the ways of intervention that interpreters use and can thus be added to the categorisation suggested by Kadrić et al (2022).…”

“…The present study merges the method that Baker (1997) follows to analyse the impact of non-cognitive constraints on the work of interpreters during an international crisis (p.111) with the categorisation that Kadrić et al (2022) provide for the ways in which interpreters intervene in the communicative situation to manage information (p.77) -and adds a new category of intervention-to develop a descriptive method of analysis. The developed method of analysis aims at analysing how Trumpʼs style and use of language impose constraints on the work of simultaneous interpreters of his unscripted speeches, and how interpreters deal with these constraints.…”

“…Newmark (1991) observes that the language of politics is characterised by abstraction (147), -metaphors‖ (p. 158), -neologisms‖ (p. 158), -acronyms‖(p. 159), -euphoney‖ (p.159), and -collocations‖ (p. 159). Kadrić et al (2022) state that an important characteristic of political language is that -not everything is said directly‖ and that 31). Political interpreters should be equipped with the adequate knowledge of these characteristics and with the skills that help them to convey the embedded meaning effectively.…”

“…In recent years, the rise of nationalism and the problems of immigration in Europe and the United States tempted some politicians to abandon political correctness and the traditional political speech style in order to get closer to the audience. Because of the constant change in politics, Kadrić et al (2022) suggest that interpreters -need to keep up to date with political and current affairs via both traditional and new media and familiarize themselves with new topics and discourses‖ (p. 178). However, getting updated on new topics cannot always guarantee that the assignment can be done adequately if the speaker being interpreted-like Trump-cannot be expected.…”

Language policies for social justice. Translation, interpreting, and access

“…Following the evolution of societal values (Inglehart & Welzel 2010), one area that has come into sharper focus is the needs and voices of underprivileged groups. Whereas the translation and interpreting needs of diplomats and the parties to the global geopolitical arena had remained adequately provided despite remaining largely out of the reach of academic scrutiny (Kadrić, Rennert & Schäffner 2021), some outside of the diplomatic arena have remained underserved (see, e.g., Stapleton, Murphy & Kildea 2013;Gallez 2018;Tipton 2018). This inequity in the provision of language services has ultimately hindered and impeded access to social and personal development and wellbeing.…”