Interpreting for TV - When the Interpreter is on the Show

When interpreting for TV programmes, the degree of prominence interpreters can take on or be given may vary both in terms of language and nonverbal communication. These aspects were extensively studied by Francesco Straniero Sergio in his groundbreaking work on Italian TV talk shows (2007). This contribution aims at following his footsteps and delving deeper into interpreters’ nonverbal communication in the same setting. Interpreters’ verbal and nonverbal behaviour has long been connected to the visibility-invisibility dualism, but data driven research has shown that invisibility is a theoretical precept, hardly found in the variety of communicative and situational contexts of real-life interpreting. On TV the interpreter’s ‘visibility’ is even more evident. In our study visibility is understood as the interpreter who does not only translate but also enters the stage as an active participant in the talk show. This change in interpreter’s positionality is also expressed by nonverbal aspects which are the focus of this study. In particular gaze, posture and gestures will be analysed and discussed on the basis of images and transcripts. The analysis shows that in our data interpreters use gaze for the purpose of turn allocation as already observed by other scholars in other settings; they use body language and facial expressions when they become the object of humour; and they integrate facial expression and gestures in their rendition, mimicking the primary participants’ nonverbal language. Far from being sanctioned by the other participants on the show, these nonverbal behaviours seem to comply with the rules of the talk show game and show great professional adaptability by the interpreters.