[Event] The Interpreter: Roles and identities in a changing environment, 16 – 17 November 2018, Paris

CALL FOR PAPERS

This colloquium aims at identifying and raising questions about changes, even calling into

question the role and identity of the interpreter, given the rapid and profound changes to

their professional environment that have been perceptible in recent years. Fundamental changes of a technical, societal, economic and political nature have given rise to new limits that frame the work of conference interpreters. The use of information and communication technology and Big Data, changing business models in different interpreting markets, ever

-growing international mobility leading to a generalisation of the use of “Globish”, but also the changing face of multilingualism and the consequent new power relations between languages and cultures, as well as a growing need for other types of interpretation beyond

conference interpreting: the impact of all of these changes merits deeper reflection. Furthermore, the sociological side of translation studies is contributing more and more to research into interpretation. All of these factors incite us to ask more questions about the

role and the function of the interpreter within specific contexts, as well as the latter’s particularities and their future contributions to the communication value chain. Other questions concern the interpreter’s role as a linguistic and cultural mediator, the longevity of the conditions that determine how they work and how they pass their knowledge on to others and the adequacy of their organisational, cognitive and social skills in a context of ever-changing terms of reference. ISIT invites you to contribute to this reflective process,

with the aim of better identifying and understanding changes in the role and identity of the

interpreter, both today and in view of future developments.