Œuvrer pour se comprendre : de la responsabilité de l’interprète et des autres participants

In interpreter-mediated interactions, the interpreter actively participates in doing understanding. His/her interactional moves therefore interplay with those of the other participants in the interaction, in a complex chain of interdependent actions. This paper focuses on the relations between interpreters’ and other speakers’ turns in the healthcare context. In particular, it aims at investigating the reaction of the interpreter to other speakers' turns which do not or not only project a translation turn on the part of the interpreter. Drawing upon the problematisation of the notion of role and adopting that of positioning, the authors analyse the interpreter's turns taking into account the constraints put by the other speakers' moves and actions. The results of the analysis are discussed in a view of highlighting the shift of responsibility caused by the blurring of the epistemic authority of the healthcare operator and that of the interpreter.