Publications
Publication details [#55952]
Penn, Claire and Jennifer Watermeyer. 2012. Cultural brokerage and overcoming communication barriers. A case study from aphasia. In Gavioli, Laura and Claudio Baraldi, eds. Coordinating Participation in Dialogue Interpreting. (Benjamins Translation Library 102). John Benjamins. pp. 269–296.
Publication type
Article in book
Publication language
English
Keywords
Place, Publisher
John Benjamins
Annotation
Aphasia results in numerous communicative barriers for patients and conversational partners, which are heightened in a cross-cultural context. In an interaction in which multiple communication barriers exist, participants must successfully negotiate mutual understanding and manage layers of breakdown. This paper explores the notion of cultural brokerage in an interpreter-mediated clinical interaction in the context of aphasia. It presents a methodology which appears to be a successful way of examining the complex interactional dynamics of a cross-cultural and cross-linguistic medical interaction. It also presents some suggestions for training health professionals who work with interpreters as well as ways in which we can maximize an understanding of the patient’s lifeworld.