Power behind Discourse and Power in Discourse in Community Interpreting: The Effect of Institutional Power Asymmetry on Interpreter Strategies

Abstract

This paper assumes that ideology, discourse and power are intimately connected, and that discourse is the mouthpiece of ideology. Power is thus negotiated, manipulated, expressed, rejected and challenged interpersonally through discourse in settings defined by institutional power asymmetry. This paper examines the issue of power as a governing factor in community —and public service interpreting by using Fairclough’s distinction between power behind discourse and power in discourse, that is, hidden power that guides the interpreter’s status and role, guiding the interpreter’s discourse and interpreting strategies. Three categories of institutional relationships are examined: relations between actors in any institutional setting, these same relations in cross-cultural encounters, and these same relations in interpreter-mediated public service encounters. Lastly, the paper discusses power in relation to the interpreter’s role.