Some material aspects of an interpreted university lecture

Abstract

Through the material orientation of actor network theory and its understanding of “translation,” this article provides insight into what students and interpreters experience from moment to moment at less visible levels of a spoken language interpreted university lecture. It reveals the arduous conditions in which interpreters must make decisions in the blink of an eye while nonhuman actors often restrict their choices. The data show a disconnect between interpreters and their material environment, which impairs their ability to “enroll” their users and to enable their “translation” into academics with full membership in their communities of practice. The article proposes a negotiated rearrangement of the space that integrates interpreters in a cohesive and enabling material environment. On a conceptual level it proposes a redefinition of role that provides them with the agency to manage the challenges that arise from moment to moment in the real-life conditions of an interpreted university lecture.