Re-interpreting interpreting

ABSTRACT

In the face of newly emerging practices and shifting conceptual boundaries in translation and interpreting studies, the article engages with two recent theoretical proposals aiming at a reconceptualization of translation from the perspectives of semiotics and accessibility studies. The biosemiotic theory by Kobus Marais based on Peircean semiotics and Gian Maria Greco’s universalist conception of accessibility grounded in human rights are explored with reference to interpreting, and their theoretical, terminological, professional and academic implications are discussed. In addition, a conceptual mapping of various forms of media access services, including speech-to-text interpreting, serves as a basis for discussing ongoing redefinition efforts in the context of international standardization, highlighting the complex interplay of different stakeholders, including scholars, service providers, service users, and regulators.

KEYWORDS:

• Interpreting
• semiotics
• media accessibility
• audiovisual translation
• speech-to-text interpreting

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Franz Pöchhacker

Franz Pöchhacker is Professor of Interpreting Studies in the Center for Translation Studies at the University of Vienna. Trained as a conference interpreter, his interests have expanded to include issues of interpreting studies as a discipline, media interpreting and community interpreting in healthcare, social service and asylum settings. His more recent work involves video remote and speech-to-text interpreting. He has lectured and published widely, his English books including The Interpreting Studies Reader (2002), Introducing Interpreting Studies (2004/³2022) and the Routledge Encyclopedia of Interpreting Studies (2015). He is co-editor, with Minhua Liu, of Interpreting: International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting.