Page 166 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

The Impact of Cultural Differences on Interpreting Situations 151

necessary, adopting the appropriate set of behaviors depending
on whom we are dealing with. It seems we do this more easily in
social situations. At a Deaf social gathering, for example, we readily
follow Deaf norms of behavior such as telling someone where we
are going when we leave the room. We probably notice that the
way we describe our recent vacation in ASL differs from the way
we might have told the same story in English, in terms of level of
detail, presentation of time, and point(s) of view. Depending on
our level of awareness of cultural differences, we may even notice
that when socializing with Deaf people, we make direct comments
about someone else’s personal appearance and check with others
before making a decision that affects the group.
Something happens, however, when we assume the role of
professional interpreter. Our formerly flexible, culture-switching
style becomes stiff, and we get locked into the hearing American
definition of that role. The result, I believe, is that we function less
effectively for all the parties involved.
One way to visualize the constant shifting of perspectives that
is required of us is to liken it to using different pairs of glasses.
Some of us have one pair of glasses for reading or close work and
another for looking at things in the distance. Each helps us func-
tion properly in the environment for which it was designed. It
would be clearly inappropriate to wear our distance glasses to do
embroidery or to use our reading glasses to watch a football game
from seats high in the stands.
As interpreters, our first task is to see each world clearly. Once
we can see from our Deaf consumer’s and hearing consumer’s
perspectives, our actions should follow naturally, because we al-
ready know what is expected and what is appropriate behavior in
each worldview.
Since we have to switch perspectives so rapidly and repeat-
edly in the course of our daily work, the best guiding image to
keep in mind might be an excellent pair of bifocals.

06 MINDESS PMKR 151 10/18/04, 12:01 PM