The Tropes of Interpreting
Workshop Description:
Do these phrases sound familiar: I stepped out of role… I’m a member of the team… The boundaries are flexible… It’s like I’m invisible...I decided to empower the deaf person…
These phrases are popular amongst interpreters – we say them to each other and we say them to ourselves. These phrases are all examples of tropes. The use of tropes has been shown to constrain thinking, mislead and confuse, and conflate dissimilar material. This presentation addresses where they came from, how they have come to endure in the field, and why they should be replaced.
Workshop Objectives:
At the end of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Compare and contrast normative and non-normative ethics.
- Identify the typical tropes used in interpreting ethical discourse.
- Deconstruct typical tropes used in interpreting to uncover underlying values.
Presenter Bio:
Robyn K. Dean, CI/CT, PhD: Robyn has been a nationally certified signed language interpreter for over twenty-five years with particular service in the field of healthcare. Her scholarship in decision-making and ethics in community interpreting is recognized internationally. Robyn has over twenty publications, all of which focus on the theoretical and pedagogical frameworks used to advance the practice of community interpreters. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where she is the lead instructor on the institute’s postgraduate degree in healthcare interpretation. Robyn also consults on postgraduate degrees for signed language interpreters in Europe.