A Study Of The Roles Of Liaison Interpreters From The Perspective Of Interculturality

In recent years,studies on the role played by interpreters have attracted much attention.Some traditional researchers regard interpreters as translation machines or conduits,whereas more recently,researchers hold that interpreters are visible and play the role of cultural mediators.In this thesis,the author focuses on this unique,cultural role,of liaison interpreters.Anthony Pym first proposed the concept of interculturality in the discipline of translation.He then proposed his theory of interculturality in On Translator Ethics and Method in Translation History.Pym holds that translators belong to his hypothesis of interculture,which is the in-between culture of the source culture and the target culture.Based on Pym's theory of interculturality,this thesis categorized this cultural role into three different sub-roles,namely,culture“messengers”,culture “explainers” and culture “filters”.Cases and examples are given to demonstrate how liaison interpreters play these cultural roles.This thesis consists of an introduction,four chapters and a conclusion.Each of the four chapters elaborates on a specific aspect.Chapter one reviews previous studies on interculturality,liaison interpretation and the role of interpreters.Chapter two introduces the theoretical framework of this thesis,namely,Pym's theory of interculturality in translation.Chapter three analyzes cultural roles of liaison interpreters from the perspective of Pym's theory of interculturality.From the perspective of interculturality,interpreters play the role of cultural mediators.This chapter categorizes this role into three different sub-roles,namely,culture“messengers”,culture “explainers” and culture “filters”.Chapter four proposes some tentative suggestions for liaison interpreters to play their cultural roles.To fill the cultural roles,it is important and necessary for liaison interpreters to cultivate intercultural awareness and to make some preparations both in the long-run and in the short-run.