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TitleA VOICE OF ITS CITIZENS OR A MODERN TOWER OF BABEL? The Quality of Interpreting as a Function of Political Rhetoric in the European Parliament
AuthorVuorikoski Anna-Riitta
AbstractThe study analyzes the sense consistency between original speeches and their interpreted versions in the light of authentic material recorded in the European Parliament plenary sittings. The aim of the study is to find out in what ways and to what extent interpreters’ versions deviate from the original speeches. Furthermore, the study aims at exploring what kind of source text features and characteristics may cause non-correspondences between the interpreters’ versions and the originals. Original speeches have been analyzed with the help of argumentation theory and new rhetoric in order to specify the sense and content of the message that should be rendered to the listener in the context of the European Parliament.

The results confirm the earlier research findings according to which the number of deviations between the original speech and the interpreter’s version increases as the density of the original text increases. Furthermore, a written speech, following the norms of written style, which is read at a fast rate is most likely to lead to deviations between the original and the interpreter’s version. To enhance this point, an audio version of the sample texts is attached to the report. This is a new method of illustrating the nature of the interpreted discourse in an authentic setting.

The study aims at developing methods of analyzing interpreters’ performance. Such methods are needed both for research and training. The method can be further improved and refined for analyzing different kinds of natural language discourse within the field of translation and interpreting studies.
PublisherTampere University Press
Date2004
Identifierhttp://acta.uta.fi/pdf/951-44-5878-8.pdf
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