The Communicative Perspective of Medical Interpreting

This paper used medical interpreting as an example to examine the recent attention to the communicative nature of translation and interpretation. In presenting the historical development of community interpreting, I examined the reasons why the communicative aspect of translation and interpretation has been ignored in the traditional translation studies. The recent research on community interpreting highlighted the fact that the neutrality envisioned in traditional ideology (i.e., translators as conduits) is not practiced even among professionals. I provided a brief overview of efforts from various disciplines (Le., anthropology, sociology, applied linguistics, psychology, and communication) to resolve such discrepancies, which led to the recent attention to the communicative perspective of translation and interpretation. I argued that interpreters' choice of interpreting strategies is not solely dependent on their linguistic ability or interpreting competence. Various factors (e.g., communicative goals, social identities, institutional contexts, contextual factors) may influence interpreters' performances. Communication as a discipline provides well-grounded theories on how these factors may influence interpersonal interactions. Using the constructs and concepts developed in communication research, I presented a theory of medical interpreting that incorporates an interdisciplinary understanding of the communicative perspective of interpreting. 11 Translation studies, which include research on translating and interpreting, is a young academic discipline (Wadensjo, 1998). Despite the proliferation of translation models and translation theories, few theorists have presented a comprehensive or universal theory. For hundreds of years, translation theorists have been struggling with conceptual issues (e.g., free vs. literal translation) without reaching a clear agreement or conclusion. As a result, the theoretical development of translation studies is relatively stagnant (Hsieh, 2002b). because this is an area that provides vivid examples of the communicative perspective of interpreting. The recent development in translation studies, however, may have provided a new direction to break the deadlock. The focus of this paper is to discuss the recent attention to the communicative perspective of interpretation. Medical interpreting, a particular type of community interpreting, is used as an example I will first provide a brief overview of the theoretical development of consecutive interpreting with a focus on community interpreting. I will explore the development of interpretation theories across various disciplines, highlighting the recent shifts to the communicative nature of translation and interpretation and researchers' approaches to interpretation as a communicative activity. I will then discuss the contributions of community interpreting to translation studies. I will examine the particular constructs and factors that are highlighted by communication and interdisciplinary approaches. Finally, I will use medical interpreting as an example to discuss 12 Studies in English Language and Literature, No. 11, February 2003 how these constructs and factors can be applied