Abstract
Recently, a significant shift in the field of translation and interpreting studies has occurred, with a growing emphasis on social and cultural factors rather than linguistic analysis. Scholars are increasingly touching upon issues related to race, class, gender, minority status, and ideology in translation and interpreting (Gibb & Good, 2014; Jackson, 2012). Together with this comes a growing awareness of interpreters’ visibility by considering interpreters as co-participants who share responsibility in communication events (Angelelli, 2004). Jinhyun Cho’s book delves into the ways in which interpreters use their unique bilingual and bicultural competences to address communicative issues that arise in intercultural interactions. By providing detailed insights into the interplay between interpreting and intercultural communication, this book offers a valuable resource for interpreting students, practitioners, trainers, and researchers.
The book consists of three sections that address general concepts and frameworks of mediated intercultural communication in interpreting and intercultural pragmatics (Chapter 1), mediated intercultural communication across specific contexts (Chapters 2–5), and the findings and implications of the research (Chapter 6).
Chapter 1 begins with a compelling narrative in which an English-Bangladeshi interpreter shares his experience of interpreting for a doctor who needs to inform a patient that he has only a couple of hours to live. Cho’s discussion of the interpreter’ dilemma highlights the tension that may arise between structural constraints and individual agency in the context of cultural interactions. This chapter presents an account of the rationale of the study, including the research methods of data collection and data analysis, followed by introducing fundamental concepts such as “interpreting and interpreters,” “community interpreting and non-community interpreting,” and “structure and agency.” It further reviews the differences between cross-cultural communication and intercultural communication, which is essential for readers to fully grasp the relevant concepts. The reminder of the book embraces Halliday’s definition of small cultures, proposing a helpful interpretive framework for analysing cultural interactions in small communicative settings such as academia, home, hospitals, and workplace.
Chapter 2 focuses on the impact of gendered power hierarchies on interpreted encounters in business interpreting, using gender as a primary lens of analysis. Corporate organisations are often characterized by male dominance (p. 11). Cho examines cases involving Japanese men visiting Australia, who regard reliance on interpreters for communication as a weakness and pretend to understand English, nodding as a strategy. This chapter furnishes meaningful guidance for interpreting service by emphasizing the need for interpreters to possess a deeper perception of “other” cultures, as well as the ability to think creatively and independently. By combining these skills, interpreters can effectively re-contextualize and rebalance power relations during international business interpreting events. The chapter is particularly relevant in today’s increasingly interconnected world, where effective communication across cultures is essential for successful business interactions.
Chapter 3 explores the influence of cultural differences within ethnic migrant communities on doctor–patient communication. This chapter particularly probes the challenges that migrant patients face due to social isolation, fear of community gossip about their medical conditions, and their cultural beliefs on receiving negative news. Interpreters play a crucial role in ensuring clear communication between doctors and patients from different cultural backgrounds. To enhance the effectiveness of communication, Cho suggests several strategies that interpreters can adopt, including using body language to express empathy, offering cultural advice with humility, and reassuring patients’ rights to know. Cho’s emphasis on the small cultural contexts of migrant communities allows for a more nuanced understanding of the underlying causes of communication failures within the power dynamics of medical interpreting (p. 63). The firsthand experiences shared by the informants in this chapter exhibit practitioners with a profound awareness of the complexities of intercultural communication within health care contexts.
Chapter 4 concentrates on school interpreting and examines how cultural stereotypes of Asian migrant parents impact teacher–parent interactions in Australia. These parents are often stereotyped as “tiger parents” who, in pursuit of academic successes for their children, may come into conflict with teachers. The limited English language proficiency and cultural knowledge of Asian parents, along with their perceived lack of racial legitimacy, can hinder their participation in school activities. As noted in Cho’s study, communication in school settings tends to be less hierarchical than in other institutional contexts, like medicine and courtrooms, as discussed in Chapters 3 and 5. Cho’s study reveals that there is limited research literature on the experiences of professional interpreters working in school settings. To address this gap, Cho proposes several strategies for interpreters working in this area. These include providing cultural advice, modifying messages, following the professional rule of impartiality, advocating for misrepresented individuals, and silencing the minority parents. These strategies offer an enlightening resource for interpreters working in similar contexts.
Chapter 5 mainly expounds on the operations and consequences of monolingualism and monoculturalism in legal spaces. The legal interpreters are governed by codes of professional ethics that require them to adhere to strict discoursal standards and produce verbatim renditions of the utterances, which can limit their capacity to engage in legal processes. This chapter illustrates the “us-them” distinction that perpetuates monolingual ideologies, which, in turn, feed into the conditions for the production and reproduction of existing power structures and ideological uses of language. The ramifications of these ideologies are significant for the fairness and justice in legal processes (Cho, 2021). Cho then analyzes the dominance of power structures over individual agency and the limitations imposed on interpreters’ choices, integrating with Bourdieu’s (1990) “social capital” theory. In the end, Cho’s suggestion is that in interpreter-mediated legal contexts, interpreters and legal professionals should work cooperatively to arrive at a shared understanding of the meaning being conveyed, rather than considering meaning as being owned by one individual.
In the concluding chapter (Chapter 6), Cho draws on the major findings from previous chapters to discuss the possible reasons for communication breakdowns and how interpreters make choices in response to intercultural conflicts. In doing so, she addresses the two main research questions posed in the introductory chapter. To answer the question—why intercultural communication often breaks down in interpreter-mediated encounters—Cho points out that the constraints of contextual power structures on interpreters are a significant factor contributing to communication breakdowns. Addressing the second question—how individuals manage intercultural communication issues when they arise—Cho stresses the need to acknowledge interpreters as cultural mediators, co-constructors in the interaction, and participants with agency and an intervening role in achieving successful communication, instead of being viewed as mere language conduits. The conclusion emphasizes that interpreting is a dynamic social act in which power and choices constantly interact with each other to create unique intercultural stories. This summary chapter is valuable not only in revealing the influences of larger structural and contextual issues on interpreter-mediated interactions but also in arousing readers’ consciousness to reconsider the roles of interpreters.
The book is clearly and logically organized, with each chapter structured in such a way that it begins with a narrator’s real experience in interpreter-mediated interactions, followed by the author’s analysis of communicative conflicts related to contextual power relations and the choices individual interpreters make to exercise their micro power in response to these challenges. Each chapter provides practical advice for addressing communication issues in the most common interpreting settings, and the numerous examples presented offer a solid foundation for further research into the reasons for communication breakdowns in interpreting. In addition, the cases in this book, encountered by professional interpreters, skilfully heighten readers’ recognition of the diverse communicative challenges that may occur in various interpreting settings. Moreover, the author’s years of experience in English-Korean interpreting give her an insider’s access to intercultural pragmatics and communication practices of Korean and English speakers, which is a beneficial contribution to the study.
While the book gives valuable enlightenment on the power structures at play in a variety of settings where interpreters work, there are some limitations to consider. First, the key terms such as “power” and “choice” (and the related terms “micro/macro power”) are not explicitly defined, which may cause some confusion for readers. It would have been helpful to provide more detailed explanations of these terms. Second, the study’s sample size is relatively small, which may limit its generalizability to other interpreter-mediated contexts. Finally, as the use of new media technologies continues to expand and remote interpreting gains popularity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would have been valuable for the author to examine the impact of remote interpreting on the choices made by interpreters in dispersed courtrooms. Despite these limitations, the book holds crucial insights into the ways interpreters can mediate and influence communication in the face of power imbalances. In addition, the strategies adopted by the informants provide practical recommendations for achieving efficient communication in various interpreting settings.
