Page 161 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

146 Reading Between the Signs

ers can add “umms,” “uhhs,” “wells,” and phrases like “Just a
minute. Let me check my calendar” to let the hearing person know
why there is a long silence.
Some deaf people realize they will never master all the ins
and outs of telephone etiquette and leave it up to the interpreter
to set up the call, giving the caller’s name when appropriate to do
so, and so on. That way the hearing cultural set will be taken care
of by the interpreter and the deaf person can focus on the content
of the call instead of its form.
Cultural Sets in Deaf Culture
We began our discussion of cultural sets with a distinction be-
tween two common types: assumptions about cultural values and
the rules of the game that apply to specific situations such as job
interviews and speaking on the telephone. Although we cited some
examples of Deaf cultural assumptions, we have not yet exam-
ined a situation from Deaf culture with its own rules of the game.
There are many situations such as parties, Deaf club gatherings,
school plays, sports events, and international conferences where
sets of unwritten rules dictate the norms of appropriate behavior.
An uninitiated hearing person attending such an event would un-
doubtedly violate many of these cultural rules. Given the fact that
the hearing are in the majority, the Deaf in the minority, however,
most often it is the Deaf person who must venture into the hear-
ing world to work, obtain medical services, or otherwise transact
business. If we were more frequently called upon to interpret for
hearing people as they came for a job interview at an all-Deaf
business or sought treatment from Deaf doctors and nurses at an
all-Deaf hospital, we would examine these situations from the
opposite perspective. As it is, the situation is distinctly lopsided.

Different Frames for Understanding
the Interpreting Event

So far in this chapter we have focused on the different sets of
cultural expectations held by our two consumers, Deaf and hear-
ing. At this point we need to add ourselves to the equation. Let us
examine how we view the very act of interpreting, by virtue of
our hearing American cultural upbringing. Then we will see to
what extent our perspective is shared by our Deaf consumers.

06 MINDESS PMKR 146 10/18/04, 12:01 PM