Page 195 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters
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180   Reading Between the Signs


                                 In addition, it is misguided to assume that by interpreting the
                              Deaf person’s comment literally he or she will gain an understand-
                              ing of hearing culture. As anyone who has spent time in other
                              countries knows, it is extremely difficult to figure out the rules of
                              another culture based on what we perceive as people’s response
                              to our behavior. To ourselves, our own behavior always feels right.
                              Even if we suspect that we have made a faux pas, how do we
                              guess if it was the words we used, our excessive eye contact (or
                              lack of it), or the clothes we were wearing that provoked a nega-
                              tive reaction?
                                 If we feel that part of our job is to educate Deaf and hearing
                              people about each other’s cultures, we can certainly make the
                              attempt, but not while interpreting. We may choose to educate
                              our clients through culturally sensitive suggestions. We might, for
                              instance, say to the hearing consumer, “You don’t need to say
                              ‘Tell him’; just speak directly to him.” “The term deaf and dumb is
                              out-of-date. You can just say deaf.” Or “May I make a suggestion?
                              It might be clearer if you could give some examples.” In the same
                              way, we may offer the Deaf consumers some suggestions before
                              or after the actual interpreting takes place, especially if they ask
                              us. I am thinking of one Deaf man who was nervous about ap-
                              pearing in traffic court for the first time and asked me what was
                              the proper way to address the judge. I was pleased to be able to
                              tell him that the accepted term of address is “Your Honor.” As an
                              interpreter, however, it is not my job to penalize a Deaf consumer
                              who does not know that we are expected to call the judge by that
                              title or even that there may be a special title at all, because in his
                              or her culture titles are not used. My job is to recognize the facial
                              expression/body posture in ASL that demonstrates a submissive
                              or respectful attitude to authority and translate that into “Your
                              Honor.”

                              Why Should We Do Cultural Adjustments At All?
                              There is another well-intentioned but misinformed resistance to
                              the concept of cultural adjustment, which I have heard expressed
                              by some hearing and deaf consumers as well as by a few inter-
                              preters. Their basic argument is that if the interpreter takes it upon
                              him- or herself to adjust for cultural differences between Deaf and
                              hearing people, members of the two cultures will never be ex-
                              posed to or acknowledge their different ways of doing things and
                              consequently will miss the opportunity to discover the fascinating







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