The interpreter who interpreted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech to the European Parliament on March 1, 2022 made headlines in the international media – because his voice caught during the interpreting. He is not the only interpreter who shows emotion when interpreting. The question is: are interpreters allowed to get emotional?
To answer the question “Can interpreters get emotional?”, let’s first look at what an interpreter is. And what he does. This brings us to what an interpreter needs in terms of competencies and abilities (skills) in order to do his job really well.
What is an interpreter and what does an interpreter do?
An interpreter is someone who, in addition to their mother tongue, speaks one or more other languages - so well that they can easily translate what is spoken from one to another. With his language skills, the interpreter becomes a mediator between people who, although they only speak one language, want to communicate with each other. Court interpreter services can
- both unilateral (Someone consumes what is being said by the interpreter, for example the speech of a speaker at an international conference.)
- as well as bilateral (Two people with different languages exchange information with the help of an interpreter who speaks both languages and translates back and forth, for example two participants in an international conference in a bilateral conversation.)
Anyone who now thinks that an interpreter functions as a pure translator is degrading the job and the people behind it. Because every interpreter transfers what has been said in a reflected manner, taking into account the context of both the speaker (sender) and the listener (receiver), the function/intention of both parties, their (inter) culturalism, intertextuality and much more. At the same time, the interpreter is a person who has gained knowledge and experience and brings this to his work.
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What competencies and skills does an interpreter need?
Before we go straight to the skills of the interpreter, we would like to briefly explain what a skill is.
Competence – a simple explanation of the term (definition)
The term competence is derived from Latin and can be translated as “to coincide”, “to meet”, “to strive for something together”, “to concede”, “to demand (by law”), “to be responsible for” and “to be authorized ex officio”. to translate.
Competence includes
- on the one hand the ability
- and on the other hand the may .
Referring to the activity of the interpreter, we could say: A competent interpreter is able to interpret (language competence, language mediator competence) and has the right to do so (mandate). This means that the interpreter’s competence results from various abilities and skills – which in combination make situational action possible.
Competence would therefore be existing knowledge. It can be used consciously and unconsciously, in both familiar and (still) unfamiliar situations.
The two basic building blocks of competence are skills and abilities. Skills are usually innate knowledge, behavior or ability, but they can also be learned and improved. Different skills: They are learned and acquired knowledge and skills that are activated with existing skills and build on them.
An interpreter needs knowledge, for example:
- Language skills in his/her mother tongue(s) and foreign language(s)
- Language knowledge of his/her mother tongue(s) and foreign language(s)
- Knowledge of the context, motivation and intention of those whose speech he translates (sender)
- The knowledge of the context, motivation and intention of those for whom he translates spoken language (recipients)
- And Knowledge of communication (verbal and non-verbal communication)
- Knowledge of body language (gestures, facial expressions, tonality), especially considering the cultural background of the speakers and listeners for whom he interprets
- Also, knowledge of language as a means of communication (political language, language manipulation)
An interpreter also needs the ability to apply this knowledge to the situation.
Language as an expression of information and emotions
Language is considered our most important and oldest means of communication. We communicate with her. Language serves the exchange of information (knowledge, experiences, signals). And very important: With our language we express what moves us: our feelings (emotions).
The task of an interpreter is to convey what is spoken. This means that he interprets what is spoken in one language (sender) into another language in such a way that it is understood by the recipient – and that is of immense importance in the way the sender meant it or wanted it to be understood.
In order to meet this enormous demand for understanding, the interpreter must understand and interpret all levels of language. So the pure words plus the tonality in which they are spoken and the style of speech with which they are spoken. Added to this is the “interpretation” of the facial expressions and gestures of the speaker.
Just the transmission of these communication signals word, sound, facial expressions and gestures is already emotionally colored: by the speaker (sender). The interpreter interprets the signals factually (objectively) and descriptively while withholding himself as a person (subject) with his knowledge and feelings. He doesn’t judge.
Are interpreters allowed to get emotional?
When a speaker delivers an emotional speech, they want to express those very feelings. He uses all means to succeed: he chooses emotionally charged and effective words, a soulful tone, a linguistic dramaturgy and facial expressions and gestures typical of the emotions to be expressed. Both the sender and the recipient can expect the interpreter to take the speaker’s emotions into account when conveying the language.
Most interpreters translate languages, one of which is their mother tongue. The mother tongue is considered the language in which a person feels. This means that in no other language will a person be able to express nearly as many feelings authentically as in their mother tongue. If one accepts this, it could be said, conversely, that one can hardly be touched by any other language as much as by one’s mother tongue.
And one more thing: the subconscious, which is primarily filled with emotionalized information, makes no difference whether the human being is actually doing what he is doing or only in his imagination. Because it cannot check whether the human being only talks about it (out loud or in his mind) about what moves him or whether it actually moves him.
Against this background court interpretation Manchester, let us put ourselves in the shoes of an interpreter who interpreted the more than emotional speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in front of the EU Parliament. This interpreter had to interpret the feelings of the statesman who sent them with his message to the EU. Of course, the interpreted speech also becomes emotional.
So far so good
Now that he is also Ukrainian, he interprets in his mother tongue. It triggers his own feelings the most. His subconscious reacts to these feelings. No more and no less. If you consider the content of the President’s speech, that it is a matter of life and death in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which violates international law, it addresses primal feelings such as fear for one’s own life.
Of course, an interpreter becomes emotional himself. And that’s good. Because an interpreter is a person. His feelings characterize him as such. He is a person who mediates between people with feelings and ensures mutual understanding.
There are speeches that are pure emotion. Zelenskyjs was one of them. He touched a lot of people with it. Also the interpreters. Who would forbid them to feel about life and death while hearing and understanding the speech? It just shows that they are human.
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