Interprètes, contextes, situations : l’interprétation comme acte politique

Interpreting is meant to meet the needs for mutual understanding arising within a community at a national or international level. These needs derive from the various settings and situations that characterize society, as well as people’s lives, and are closely linked to the life and organization of the polis (the State). Interpreting therefore belongs to the political and social spheres; as such it is a political act. In order to analyze the conditions underlying the recourse to interpreting, a superordinate and a subordinate level may be identified. The former refers to the political, historical, and spatio-temporal situation in which interlingual communication needs arise and its impact on interpreting services. The latter refers to the interpreter as an individual who “chooses” what to interpret and for whom, and whose activity enables those communication needs to be met. In order to highlight the intertwined features of the two levels, as well as the political value of the interpreting act, this paper focuses on two areas: the legal field (with exclusive reference to Italy) and interpreting in conflict zones. Given their contexts and the impact they have on society and people’s lives, including the interpreter’s, these two areas can be seen as emblematic insofar as they forcefully reveal the political nature of both the interpreter’s role and the interpreting act.