IW 146: InterpreTips: The Stereotypical Interpreter-Judging the Book's Cover

Will you look at THAT! Can you believe it?!

Looks aren't everything, but they help us deduce who people are, what they may think, and how they communicate. As sign language interpreters we often have to be "judgmental" of who people are to help us understand what they mean. Is that good? How do we do that?

Let's look beneath the mask of impartiality and see what we really think and do.

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Transcript

IW 146: InterpreTips: The Stereotypical Interpreter-Judging the Book's Cover

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[ROCK INTRO MUSIC STARTS]

00:00:02 Tim [ONLY Tim speaks in this episode]

Good morning, good evening, good afternoon. Wherever you are, this is the Interpreter's Workshop podcast. I'm Tim Curry, your host. Here we talk everything sign language interpreting the ins, the outs, the ups, the downs, the sideways of interpreting. If you're a student, a new interpreter, experienced interpreter, this is the place for you. If you want to know more, go to interpretersworkshop.com.

00:00:28

Let's start talking... interpreting.

[ROCK INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

00:00:34 

And now the quote of the day by Benjamin Franklin, a leading figure in early American history. A polymath, a diplomat, a publisher, inventor, writer and much more.

00:00:49

“I don't believe in stereotypes. I prefer to hate people on a more personal basis.”

00:00:56

Yes, just a little bit of humor there.

00:00:59

Perhaps dark humor, but I think it actually gets to the core of the phrase “don't judge a book by its cover”. Actually, open the book up. Read it.

00:01:09

Look inside.

00:01:10

Find out more about what the book has to say.

00:01:14

However, today's episode is a little cheeky, a little serious, but perhaps, also playing with our thoughts.

00:01:23

Listen to the episode in a serious way because I say it seriously.

00:01:28

But it's trying to get us to think about how we work as interpreters, how we judge others, how we might figure out the stereotypes that we're thinking and open the book up and start to peruse the pages - thoughtfully.

00:01:45

A touchy subject.

00:01:46

Well, a subject that we need to touch upon.

00:01:50

How do we do that?

00:01:51

Well, let's get started.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:01:57

As interpreters were supposed to be impartial, be confidential, neutral, respect all of our clients equally and give equivalence in the messages that we are delivering from each client.

00:02:12

How do we do that?

00:02:13

The process of interpreting languages, figuring out what these words mean in this language, how do we change it to the other language?

00:02:23

We also know that the words used don't always give their individual meanings common meanings, but rather they have a meaning within the sentence that they're being used and within the context Of this particular situation.

00:02:41

But how do we get that context?

00:02:44

Because within it we have people and people are very complex and so we have to look at them and decide who they are, what they might mean based on what we notice about them or know about them.

00:03:01

What are we looking at?

00:03:02

Well, we're looking at what communities do they come from.

00:03:06

And Community can mean different things to different people.

00:03:10

We are looking at what group or groups, these individuals belong to.

00:03:16

What are their religions?

00:03:18

What class do they fit in?

00:03:20

Is there a certain economic level that they are in?

00:03:24

What country are they from?

00:03:26

Which country do they live in?

00:03:28

What languages do they use and what is their profession?

00:03:33

What is their educational background?

00:03:35

What are their political beliefs? Religious beliefs.

00:03:39

What are their perspectives on food, on exercise, on quality of clothing?

00:03:45

How do they feel about the people in the room?

00:03:49

How big is their ego?

00:03:51

How charismatic are they?

00:03:52

Are they a likable person?

00:03:54

Do we trust them?

00:03:56

Do we get some weird feeling from them?

00:03:58

Or do we feel comfortable around them?

00:04:03

Hmm. What is it we're doing when we're thinking about all of these things?

00:04:08

Sounds like we're stereotyping.

00:04:10

Sounds like we might be a detective.

00:04:13

We might be super aware of our surroundings.

00:04:17

We may be judging a book by its cover. Well, I believe, that as interpreters not only do we do all of these things, but we also should.

00:04:28

We are obligated to find out and to realize and understand as much as we can about our clients so that we can interpret more effectively, which sounds like we're a little on the edge of not being impartial, not being neutral.

00:04:45

And being on that edge is a real balancing act.

00:04:48

We don't want to judge.

00:04:50

We don't want to stereotype, but we do want to figure all of these things out.

00:04:56

Well, let's look at how we do this analysis.

00:05:00

It's very similar to what everyone does when you first meet a person, you are visually and maybe even using our other senses to figure out different things about these people, the way someone dresses, the way someone holds their body, the way they walk, the way they gesture, the way they use eye contact.

00:05:22

All of those things give us an idea of who the person is and how they fit into certain compartments within our understanding and our experience.

00:05:34

So just like a detective, we are collecting clues about who they are.

00:05:40

We're collecting clues about how they think, how they think about the world, how they perceive others, how they think others perceive them.

00:05:50

Using this deductive reasoning, visual problem solving is the first step. The first step in connecting the dots of who this person is. And as an interpreter, that gives me a lot of information. Just like when I'm reading materials from a powerpoint...

00:06:10

I look at the visuals, I look at the pictures, the images, I even look at how cluttered the PowerPoint is or how clean it might be.

00:06:21

And it tells me a little bit about the person who made this PowerPoint. The person who is using this PowerPoint, how they think.

00:06:29

And it gives me a window into how they may actually present. The vocabulary that they're using helps connect me to what community, what group of people they might share opinions with.

00:06:44

Those clues, those connections are the initial steps that I use, not only in interpreting, but in the world around me, gathering information with our senses to help us navigate the world.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:07:01

And once we are in the interpreting mode and we're going from language to language during this discourse with the clients, that's where we do two things. We gather more clues, their actual opinions that are stated, the vocabulary they're using, the tone of voice, how they interact with others.

00:07:22

Those clues are the ones we start to gather during the interpreting process. They start giving us more information, but at the same time, we're using our analysis of the first clues to help understand the second clues.

00:07:38

And vice versa.

00:07:39

We get rid of some of the stereotypes that we first created, the cubby holes that we put people in, the deductions that we already made.

00:07:47

We start changing them or tweaking them just a little bit to match what the new information is telling us. We're giving ourselves new conclusions about who they are as the discourse changes and continues.

00:08:02

And those help us decide whether or not we should be using the same vocabulary that we thought we would use, whether or not we should interrupt the way that we thought we would be interrupting. Our own behavior will change according to what we analyze and see in this detective work as an interpreter.

00:08:24

But that brings us to the thought of if we are doing so much of this analysis, we have to do what we normally would not do. And that is stereotype.

00:08:38

We have to realize that the stereotypes that we use are not the negative ones but rather they are precautionary categories that will help us understand more what this may or may not…mean.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC STARTS]

00:08:56

Are you tired of social media shenanigans?

00:09:00

Well, why not go old-fashioned?

00:09:01

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00:09:16

Thank you. Let's go back.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC ENDS]

00:09:20

So how do we handle the deductive reasoning process of understanding the clients effectively to help us bring about the equivalence of the interpretation?

00:09:32

Rather, how do we do this without stereotyping, without making blunders of labeling incorrectly or assuming that we understand something when in reality we don't have all the information?

00:09:49

This I believe comes with experience comes with not just the amount of experience, but rather the quality of experience that you have, the quality of understanding the experiences that you've had, discussing those experiences with colleagues, with peers, with mentors, even with journaling, writing down what you see, what you have experienced and analyzing it.

00:10:18

What worked and what did not work?

00:10:20

What stereotyped group was I using that worked and did not work? And why?

00:10:27

Was it correct only for this situation?

00:10:29

Or is it a general grouping that I can use in the future?

00:10:34

This could be an ethical quandary, an ethical dilemma that we have.

00:10:39

Maybe one that's hidden under the surface.

00:10:43

Because we realize that we're doing this.

00:10:45

That we subconsciously at least realize that we are stereotyping people, stereotyping behaviors, vocabulary, the visual clues that we are getting. We are using those to make assumptions to make connections between how the person is communicating and what we, what we have already deduced.

00:11:07

And sometimes that conflicts with a lot of the ethical workshops that we have out there. Whenever we discuss an ethical dilemma or what have you, we sometimes talk about…

00:11:17

Well, we don't want to stereotype people.

00:11:19

We don't want to assume that we know about their culture when we are not a part of their culture. We don't want to make a connection that isn't really there. Unfortunately, we have to make split second decisions based on the knowledge that we have, based on the experience that we have, based on past decisions that we've made that were successful or the ones that weren't successful. All of those help us make new decisions quickly because every situation is different.

00:11:49

We know that when we are stereotyping that it is only the initial step.

00:11:55

It is the first clue that we can use to help build the information that we use for the conclusion of that moment to help us effectively interpret.

00:12:07

But I would caution us to remember that it is only a first step.

00:12:12

It's not always true, and that's why it is the first step(s).

00:12:18

Use those clues in a way that help you get started, but the next wave of clues that you get help change your view.

00:12:27

Help change your conclusion.

00:12:29

And help navigate through the discourse in a new way. Many times, in an interpretation situation, a person doesn't always bring all of their “cultural baggage”.

00:12:44

Sometimes in this situation they change how they interact with people based on the situation and based on the people that they're interacting with.

00:12:54

They know they can't use, perhaps the slang that they would use normally with their friends, with their family or, or the region that they're from.

00:13:02

So, they use a more generic language that appeals to this situation.

00:13:08

They may not use the humor that they would normally use because it's not appropriate here, or they may be wearing clothes that fit this situation, but they are not the clothes they normally wear.

00:13:20

So, they're adjusting to the situation and therefore, our assumptions of the visual clues that we have need to take that into account.

00:13:31

Realize that the people in the situation are probably doing the same thing we're doing.

00:13:36

They're gathering the information, they're gathering the clues, they're interacting based on that information. And we are also doing the same thing, and they are interacting with the interpretation rather than just themselves, which means if we make a mistake in our analysis of the clues, it will influence our interpretation in a different way than what was intended.

00:14:02

And therefore, the person reacting to that interpretation is not reacting to reality, but rather our interpretation, which is based on clues that may not be leading us to reality.

00:14:18

Ooof. That was a twisting little example, but we're all interpreters and we can definitely follow a speaker who… does not… know how… to… speak… “good”. [nervously coughs]

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC STARTS]

00:14:35

Well, I hope you don't judge this episode too harshly but be aware that sometimes I do have a clue.

00:14:42

But I do love a good mystery.

00:14:44

I know you can deduce that. It is very stereotypical of me to love problem solving.

00:14:52

Today's episode was another way of thinking about our work that came to me when I was at a festival for Mardi Gras and I noticed all the different costumes and I thought, huh, why did that person pick that costume?

00:15:06

Why did that person even think that was a costume?

00:15:10

Then there was everyone else who was not in a costume, and it got me thinking, how many of the masks are people wearing when we are interpreting for them?

00:15:21

And how many masks do we have to uncover to take off, to look under, to find out the true meaning of the discussion that's going on?

00:15:31

I noticed I was using detective work to figure out people's costumes and why they would pick that and what they thought of the world, based on that costume. How they communicate, how they moved...

00:15:45

All of it told me a little bit about them and that's when, of course, the interpreter in me started thinking even more deeply.

00:15:52

And what is the stereotypical interpreter thinking when they're judging all these clues that we get?

00:16:00

So, don't judge, merely find the clues and find the connections.

00:16:06

And we can only do that if we keep calm and keep interpreting.

00:16:11

I'll see you next week.

00:16:13

Take care now.

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC ENDS AT 00:16:49]