Intercultural communication in interpreting: Power and choices. Guest post by Jinhyun Cho.
…by definition interpreter-mediated communication always involves speakers from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds in dialogue
What is intercultural communication? For many years, scholars have attempted to address this broad topic, yet little has been explored in the realm of interpreting. This is surprising, considering the fact that interpreting is intercultural communication in itself, for by definition interpreter-mediated communication always involves speakers from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds in dialogue. In my recent book, Intercultural communication in interpreting: power and choices (Routledge, 2021), I tried to address the gap by exploring interpersonal dimensions of intercultural communication in a variety of key interpreting contexts – business, education, law and healthcare – based on the unique perspectives of professional interpreters.
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Jinhyun specializes in translation and interpreting and sociolinguistics with a focus on gender, intercultural communication, and language ideologies. Jinhyun’s research brings together interpreting and sociolinguistics to examine hitherto taken-for-granted cultural and linguistic phenomena through the unique prism of interpreters as social agents. By focusing on a shift in understanding away from the traditional mechanical view of interpreters as “translation machines” to a perspective which sees interpreters as social actors, she has been able to capture significant insights into the dynamics of dominant ideologies and societal power structures and their influences on linguistic and cultural practices in diverse socio-historical contexts.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 