De rol van sociaal tolk in de maatschappij

In this article, the question of different roles that community interpreters play in the context of interpreted interactions is addressed, or rather how these roles are perceived. The fact that interpreters function as mediators of pronouncements from one language to another (and vice versa) is apparent from the nature of the interpretation process itself. However, frequent studies by contemporary researchers in this field show that the role of community interpreter is clearly different from that of conference interpreter; the role of the community interpreter, as seen by several authors, often goes beyond the mediation of the language transfer of necessary information, and the interpreter is often even considered responsible for the coordination of a particular conversation between participants of interpreted communication: the community interpreter determines who is speaking and who is listening; explains to the participants what the other party mean; signals this; and explains why a certain interpreted communication was not understood by one of the parties. The specific cultural position of the interpreter can sometimes also be the reason why the interpreter “leaves his mediating role”. Interpreters always operate between two worlds which are different at different levels and which it is precisely the interpreter’s job to connect through the language transfer of communications. In the case of community interpreters, we often have to deal with striking differences in norms and values. Does the interpreter have to inform the participants of the interaction about these differences or not? Doesn’t he go too far if he actively intervenes in conflict situations in an interpreted dialogue, because the other participant doesn’t have the necessary knowledge about the cultural traditions and customs of the other party? Can we expect the interpreter to inform his client, who does not speak the language of the country in question, of his rights as soon as he notices that the other party does not respect them? The article discusses various insights into the role played by community interpreters. We start from the hypothesis that the perception of the role of the community interpreter will be highly dependent not only on different conceptual representations of individual authors but will also be differently anchored in different countries and cultures.