Interpreting and Professionial Identity

This chapter examines the development of interpreting as a fully-fledged profession, describing which of the criteria generally considered to be requirements for a profession are met by the various strands of the interpreting profession. Workplace 'identity' and 'professional identity’ have been studied widely in many disciplines. This chapter looks at how the notion of professional identity has been addressed in the wider literature and examines how interpreting fits into, overlaps with and interfaces with definitions and views in the discipline and practice of interpreting. Professional identity is an aggregate set of beliefs, values, motives and experiences relating to work, shared by a definable group and leading to a professional role, but at the same time negotiated dynamically by bringing together multiple identities at the public and private, social and personal levels. The chapter suggests a list of parameters that arguably define a profession and discusses whether or not interpreting fulfils some or all of these requirements and what might be done to meet those criteria that are still not satisfied. These parameters are: Exclusivity, Jurisdiction, Group/ Community identity, Problem-solving capacity, Positive impact on society, Motivation/ reward, Training, Guidelines/rules, Accreditation/ legitimization, Credentials and Standards. The chapter suggests that these tensions may have a concrete impact on interpreter rendition (conflicting values and standards, role confusion, ethical dilemmas, power struggles, etc.) as they evolve in the interface of conflicting needs, expectations, values and standards.