Hyperformality, Politeness Markers and Vulgarity
How do you feel about saying four-letter words in public? When
do you translate bastard as bastard and when do you replace it with
a euphemism? Do you retain Your Honour on each and every
occurrence? Just how vulgar and how polite can you-or rather should
you-strive to be while interpreting in a court of law? When does
correct become hypercorrect, and how correct is hypercorrect? How
do you deal with garbled and muddy questions and answers? Do you
have the courage to render muddy and garbled as such or you clean
up the mess as you interpret? What is the difference between
dismissal with prejudice and dismissal without prejudice,
cross-claim and cross-examination, writ of habeas corpus and writ
of mandamus? Who is Miranda and what has she got to do with the
Miranda Warnings-and what are these warnings anyway? Can you switch
sides during the same case and what are the major courtroom do's
and don'ts? Should you simplify the text to be interpreted to
accommodate an accused with limited verbal skills? Can you
interpret during pretrial preparation and then continue working on
the same case in higher courts?
These are some of the linguistic and ethical issues explored by
Constance Emerson Crooker in The Art of Legal Interpretation: A
Guide for Court Interpreters published by Portland State University
(1996). Crooker is 'crook' only by name, not by nature: in fact,
she is a bilingual criminal defence lawyer (English/Spanish) with
over 19 years of experience, and teaches legal seminars for lawyers
and interpreters.
The guide includes chapters on determining dual language
proficiency, legal terminology, courtroom procedures, methods of
oral interpretation, frequent errors during interpretation and
their effects, interpreter ethics, qualifications and
administrative and financial issues, such as the not altogether
insignificant question as to who pays the interpreter.
But The Art of Legal Interpretation does not end here. Indeed, a
just-as-chunky part of the book is titled Appendices, which
includes no fewer than 19 entries such as a glossary of legal
terms, and excerpts from interpreter statutes. The glossary gives
succinct explanations of legal terms most, but not all, of the
time. For example, it does not only explain the legal principle
often referred to in Latin as Res ipsa loquitor-the thing speaks
for itself-but illustrates it as well with the example of a barrel
falling on, say, your head from a warehouse window. Even though you
did not see who did it, somebody must have been negligent that is
to say the res ipsa loquitor principle applies.
However, explanations are not half as satisfying for the reader
at other times. For example, probation is explained clearly enough,
but parole is simply dispensed with as a system of post-prison
supervision of former inmates, not unlike probation. The reader is
left with questions, such as in what ways then is parole different
from probation, if at all?
The chapter on Interpreter Statutes you may find relevant but
only if you are also interested in the state of affairs in the
United States, and especially in the State of Oregon. Hence the
book is, arguably, quite parochial. This is not necessarily a crime
in and by itself, I hear you say. It can, in principle, meet some
local need. And it does. But the title and the subtitle are
somewhat misleading since there is no indication of the
self-imposed limitations of the book in either of them.
The glossary is based on American English: for example, it
explains supreme court as In Oregon, the highest state court. In
the federal courts, the highest court in the land. Clearly, the
primary focus is on the State of Oregon, and then 'the land' i.e.
the US. There is no attempt made to cross-reference the material
with relevant terms 'outside the land' i.e. there is no mention of
crown court. This will certainly seem like a pity for many readers
outside the US. But what seems like a faux pas is that there is no
indication of the limitations of usage. The last item in the book,
the bibliography, also focuses on American literature, but was made
with an eye to Spanish speakers: it includes Spanish entries,
dictionaries, software, networks.
Notwithstanding its undeclared limitations, the Art of Legal
Interpreting may be very helpful for you if you are, or planning to
be, engaged in customs, prison and court interpreting in
particular, and public service interpreting in general. The chapter
on the most frequent errors during legal interpretation is a good
read and offers clear and straightforward explanations of many
issues, such as untranslated side conversations, correcting
speaker's mistakes, seeking clarification, correcting interpreter's
mistakes, switching from first person to third person, linguistic
coercion, additions and deletions, switching active and passive
verbs, adding hyperformality, adding or deleting politeness
markers, softening slang and vulgarity, adaptation, altering
demeanor of witness, and yielding to inappropriate requests from
the judge or lawyers.
The chapter on Interpreter Ethics raises and illustrates some
important issues about accuracy, bias, and conflict of interest.
For example: have you ever wondered if, having worked for the law
enforcement agency, you can serve as a court interpreter in the
same case, say in the higher courts of law? Well, the answer is no
and yes. No, because there may be an appearance of bias. Yes,
because it is just that, the appearance of bias and not more -that
is to say if the premise is, as indeed it should be, that
interpreting is a profession. I for one would tend to agree with
the author of the book: the decision is best left to the judge's
discretion.
Those of us who teach English for Law or Translation and
Interpreting Courses for advanced TESOL or TEFL students will
certainly welcome The Art of Legal Interpreting
The Art of Legal Interpretation: A Guide for Court
Interpreters
By Constance Emerson Crooker, Attorney
Continuing Education Press, Portland State University 1996 pp. 138
ISBN 0 87678 116 4
This article was originally published at Translation Journal
(http://accurapid.com/journal).
By Zsuzsanna Ardó
A writer/broadcaster and translator/interpreter