earticle

영어

In an interpreter-mediated communicative event, the interpreter is required to perform two distinctive roles of the listener and the speaker at different points in time. In this paper, this unique dual structure of the speaker and listener in interpreter-mediated events was examined from the perspective of information structure of the source text viewed as a succession of old and new information. Givenness of information units presented in the source text was categorized according to their status in the discourse as well as vis-a-vis the hearer in two different stages of the interpreting event. In the first stage, the interpreter becomes the hearer, and as such takes on the task of analysing the information structure of the source text as it is presented in a linear manner. Interpreters can be better equipped to deal with difficulties presented by the source text by adapting their interpreting strategies according to the information status of a given message. In the second stage, where the interpreter becomes the speaker, it is advised for the interpreter to sequence their message according to its information status by actively analyzing it from the perspective of the hearer, i.e. the audience. The paper provides a detailed explanation of how the analysis of information structure can be exploited for the benefit of the interpreter as well as the audience.