Page 29 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

14 Reading Between the Signs

backgrounds as well. Demographic studies predict that the multi-
cultural influences within Deaf and hearing cultures will steadily
increase in coming years.
This book serves as an introduction to the field of intercultural
communication and examines the two cultures between which
we most often work. It is not the final word on the subject. We
can look forward to the day when other researchers will further
describe the interrelations between the multicolored threads that
weave the cultural web in which we all live and work.

Why the Big Fuss about Culture?
Some of those in our field question the value of paying so much
attention to culture. As one longtime interpreter told me, “Deaf
people and hearing people aren’t that different; we all want the
same thing—nice friendly service, just like you get at McDonald’s.”
Others feel that Deaf people are lucky to be living in the enlight-
ened 1990s, where the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) guar-
antees them the right to have an interpreter who will translate
English into sign and vice versa. Doesn’t providing an interpreter
solve the communication problem?
Theresa B. Smith, one of the most respected and skilled inter-
preters in the country, describes in her dissertation the struggle to
convey not only the information contained in but the implica-
tions behind Deaf discourse:
As an interpreter I have noticed that simply translating
the language (i.e., that which is explicitly stated) is in-
sufficient. Not only do the listeners have difficulty un-
derstanding what is being said if discourse is unaccom-
modated, their perceptions of the speaker are often in-
accurate. I found myself wanting to give the “real inter-
pretation” to not only rephrase but restructure the ar-
gument just made to a more English-like discourse so
the listeners would understand not only what had been
said, but why. (1996, 221)
Smith concludes that
hiring interpreters is certainly not enough to make most
meetings or encounters “accessible.” If nothing else is
changed (e.g., timing, discourse style, underlying pre-
suppositions, beliefs and values), providing interpreta-
tion is often form without content. (180)

01 MINDESS PMKR 14 10/18/04, 11:21 AM