Abstracts
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.
Keywords/Mots-Clés:
- dialogue interpreting,
- media interpreting,
- talk-show interviews,
- invisibility,
- communicative wiggle room
Résumé
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.
Appendices
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