An Interpreter’s Visibility Consciousness

Interpreting is a communicative activity in essence.It requires the interpreters to present at the scene,since how interpreters perceive their role will directly affect their interpreting strategies,hence the final communication results will be affected accordingly.Interpreting for political seminars have clear communicative purposes as well as political sensitivity.Professional interpreters tend to be “visible” rather than“invisible”in interpreting process.Some studies have proved that the interpreters’ visibility consciousness does exist and has its manifestations in three roles: a gate-keeper of the speaker’s message;a co-interlocutor of the conversation and a coordinator of the discourse process.As a gatekeeper,the interpreter filters inappropriate information to avoid negative effects on communication;as a co-interlocutor,the interpreter come up with his/her own words to present additional information and bridge cultural differences;as a coordinator,the interpreter mediates the beginning,development and the end of the conversation.This report is about an interpreting task for a political seminar between China and developing countries.By analyzing the segments of the recordings,this reports tries to reveal the practicability and the rationality of visibility consciousness.By adopting different strategies with caution,the interpreter tries to present the most appropriate renditions.