“Vous voulez m’embrasser?” Impolitesse et “face-work” en interprétation judiciaire

This paper explores “impoliteness” in an authentic interpreter-mediated court examination. Drawing on Bousfield’s (2008) theoretical model of impoliteness, it describes the defendant’s verbal attacks towards the judge, the interpreter and incidentally the counsel, and examines the impact of the interpreter’s strategies on the dynamics and the direction of the interaction. The analysis reveals on the one hand that the interpreter regularly mitigates or omits intentional face attacks directed to the judge, which neutralizes their cumulative effect and results in the judge’s disempowerment. On the other hand, the interpreter seems to convey more accurately the offensive moves when they are directed to the defendant. Hence, the interpreter appears to be a pivotal element between primary speakers in the coordination of their face-work, the management of their power relations and their mutual positioning

L’enjeu de l’interprétation judiciaire dans la construction identitaire du justiciable

status: publishe

Un format horizontal pour transcrire et analyser les interactions triadiques interprétées

The transient character of oral language obliges interpreting researchers to proceed to a transcription of recorded data for purposes of analysis. While transcription is essential to achieve a fine-grained linguistic analysis, its complexity has received scant attention so far in Interpreting Studies. In Public Service Interpreting for example, researchers mainly and usually opt for a vertical transcription format inherited from Conversation Analysis, regardless of their research objectives. Based on a reflexive transcription practice (Bucholtz 2000), this paper explores the use of a horizontal transcription format for qualitative empirical research in dialogue interpreting. It argues that horizontality, i.e. a format in which parallel columns are assigned to the speakers, first enhances the readability of the transcript. Moreover, it highlights both the dynamics inherent to the triadic interaction in the institutional setting and its interactional patterns through the modelisation of the sequences of turns-at-talk. Hence, it facilitates micro and macro linguistic analysis in an interactionist approach. The scientific assets of this method are demonstrated through the analysis of sequences from an authentic interpreted courtroom interaction

Foreigners and Refugees Behind Bars: How Flemish Prisons Tackle Linguistic Barriers

As a result of intensive mobility and migration over the last twenty-five years, multiculturalism and multilingualism have become a reality in European prisons. This “superdiversity” poses a serious challenge to the various stakeholders who need efficient and reliable communication. Yet this topic has been underresearched. According to statistics for the year 2014 issued by the Council of Europe, Belgium has a high rate of foreign inmates (41%). Against this background, the aim of this exploratory research is to describe how the Flemish penitentiary system tackles this linguistic challenge. Data were gathered through qualitative research methods such as desktop research and in-depth interviews with 8 stakeholders (prison directors, prison staff, social workers, and interpreters). Due to the scarcity of financial resources and the presence of organizational hurdles, the Ministry of Justice rarely assigns jobs in prison to interpreters; instead, they are replaced by cheaper and immediately available alternatives. The results suggest that linguistic isolation of foreign detainees leads to social isolation and may jeopardize their release and social reintegration.status: publishe

Pourquoi moins de missions d'interprétation dans les prisons flamandes?

Dans les prisons belges, quatre détenus sur dix sont d’origine étrangère . Pourtant, les interprètes sont de moins en moins convoqués. Comment expliquer cela ? Le personnel pénitentiaire parvient-il à surmonter la barrière linguistique sans l’assistance d’un interprète ? Et si oui, comment ? Est-ce que cela a un impact sur leur travail ?status: publishe

Waarom zijn er steeds minder tolkopdrachten in Vlaamse gevangenissen?

Tegenwoordig zijn vier gevangenen van de tien in de Belgische gevangenissen van buitenlandse origine, maar toch doet de gevangenis steeds minder een beroep op externe tolken . Hoe komt dat eigenlijk? Kan het gevangenispersoneel de taalbarrière zonder hulp van een tolk overwinnen? En zo ja, hoe dan? En hoe beïnvloedt de anderstaligheid van de gedetineerden hun werk?status: publishe

Court interpreting and classical rhetoric: Ethos in interpreter-mediated monological discourse

status: publishe

Orality and authenticity in an interpreter-mediated defendant’s examination: A case study from the Belgian Assize Court

This paper examines how a court’s perception of the defendant’s socio-legal identity may be affected by interpreting. Since this perception relies largely on language, interpreters are expected to minimise their impact on the dynamics of direct communication between primary participants. The analysis focuses on an interpreter-mediated defendant’s examination, recorded in an attempted murder case tried before the Belgian Assize Court, identifying possible departures from the principles of orality and authenticity. The recordings include exchanges, not necessarily audible to the court, between the defendant and the interpreter. Our analysis shows that: (a) the participation framework (directness) of the defendant’s input is altered, while the relative inaudibility of the interaction between defendant and interpreter deprives the jury of access to authentic features of the defendant’s delivery; (b) the interpreter’s intervention may shift the defendant’s oral exposition into a different style, and hence condition the way the defendant is eventually perceived by the jury.status: publishe

Une méthode intégrée pour l'analyse de monologues interprétés. L'apport de la théorie de l'argumentation et de la rhétorique classique

Cette étude de cas a pour objectif de montrer que la théorie de l’argumentation peut être un instrument valable pour l’analyse de monologues judiciaires interprétés, surtout lorsqu’elle est arrimée à la rhétorique. Notre analyse se base sur l’enregistrement et la transcription de trois courts extraits d’un procès pénal authentique dans une cour d’assises flamande. Il s’agit plus précisément du réquisitoire sur la culpabilité de l’accusé que le ministère public adresse aux juges et aux jurés et de la plaidoirie de l’avocat de la défense. Ces deux monologues ont été interprétés en chuchotage pour l’accusé francophone qui ne maîtrisait pas le néerlandais. Le procureur ainsi que l’avocat ont tous deux recours au logos, c’est-à-dire qu’ils étayent leur thèse par des arguments. Lorsqu’on examine l’interprétation de l’argumentation, on constate qu’elle est bien rendue par l’interprète. Lorsqu’on analyse à présent ces deux discours au moyen de la rhétorique, on constate toutefois que le procureur a davantage recours à l’ethos et au pathos que l’avocat, moyens persuasifs non-rationnels rarement pris en compte dans une analyse de l’argumentation. Quant à l’interprète, il a tendance à sacrifier ces deux moyens. Cela implique que l’interprétation altère le pouvoir persuasif du texte source. La rhétorique a pourtant postulé l’efficacité de ce deux pisteis, spécialement dans un contexte judiciaire. En bref, nous soutenons qu’en intégrant la théorie de l’argumentation dans un cadre rhétorique, on parvient à analyser non seulement la structure argumentative d’un discours mais également d’autres éléments participant à la persuasion, qu’ils relèvent du pathos, de l’ethos ou de la présentation et du style. Ainsi, pour analyser les discours persuasifs, la rhétorique offre selon nous un cadre d’analyse beaucoup plus vaste et complet que toute théorie de l’argumentation.status: publishe

Legal Interpreting and Translation in Belgium: A Crossover Profession

Legal interpreting is a multifaceted profession, which requires a wide range of skills. Legal interpreters must be able, among others, to translate legal monologues in the whispered mode, dialogues in the consecutive mode and to sight translate various types of written documents. They have to do this at different levels of jurisdiction and/or in different courts and tribunals (civil, penal). They are also called upon to work in different judicial settings, such as police stations, prisons, or to act as an intermediate between lawyers and clients. Moreover, they are often constrained, for economic reasons, to fulfill complementary interpreting or translation assignments. This article offers a detailed description of the different linguistic activities – such as translation – the legal interpreters undertake besides their core activities in the courtroom, within or outside the legal context. Data are gathered through a survey sent to members of a professional association for Belgian legal interpreters and translators, of both the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking part of the country. It was answered by 52 respondents. One of the main goals of the study is to show the variety of tasks legal interpreters (and translators) carry out. The second is to describe the varied skills needed to perform those tasks and the challenges and particularities they encounter at the workplace. The third is to assess their job satisfaction. The conclusion of this small-scale study is that legal interpreters have a very diverse and growingly complex job and that translation and interpreting, despite the different skills required by each of the disciplines, have to be considered as a crossover profession in a changing world.status: publishe