Embedded Strangers in One’s Own Job? Freelance Interpreters’ Invisible Work: A Practice Theory Approach

Abstract

This article investigates invisible work, as voiced by professionals in the interpreting sector in the UK. Informed by a practice theory approach alongside the sociology of invisible work, it re-frames invisibility as enacted according to the elements that organise and motivate work in terms of purposeful, normative and skilful actions. Drawing on a qualitative dataset of 20 observations and 46 interviews with interpreters, the article conceives invisibility as a functional labour logic in which compliance and resistance to being unseen are the twofold cornerstone of professionalism but also of devaluation. As a freelance workforce, interpreters face contradictions between deontological and stakeholders’ expectations of invisibility, and the individual need of displaying an expert role for securing work continuity. This article contributes to social practice and invisible work literature by uncovering the performative interrelation of the work dynamics which demand a negotiation of hidden/visible status.

Exploring positionality management in complex interpreting interactions: a simulation method

“…She also found that interpreters face contradictions between the deontological expectations of remaining invisible and their individual needs to be visible to secure work continuity and avoid self-effacement. Despite this need for visibility, however, interpreters actively engage in invisibility as a demonstration of competence (Giustini, 2023). In their work, interpreters constantly make decisions not just about linguistic choices, but about how to approach challenging content in light of professional standards, stakeholder expectations, and their own positionality, a fundamental notion in this call for new understandings of interpreting ethical principles.…”

The Invisible Labor and Ethics of Interpreting

“…The cumulative lack of recognition or "bastard status" of interpreters itself creates the conditions for conflicts in the workplace (Pian 2022). Such conflicts include upholding legal schemes of employment that separate and keep interpreters out of sight and disempowered at work (Giustini 2022). At the same time, interpreters have collectively organized to create better working conditions (Rao 2021b).…”