“Those Who Do...”: A Profile of Research(ers) in Interpreting

Franz Pöchhacker
Institut für Übersetzer- und Dolmetscherausbildung der Universität Wien
Abstract

In an attempt to survey the contemporary landscape of Interpreting Studies, the paper draws a profile of 'schools' of research(ers) based on the output of writings and research on interpreting in the years from 1989 to 1994. A ranking of the most productive authors in the period under study serves as the data-based point of departure for a—necessarily personal—account of some of the leading centers of research on interpreting in terms of their main representatives, approaches and areas of interest. The survey concludes with a brief reflection on possible trends and perspectives for the further evolution of Interpreting Studies as a field of academic research.

Table of contents

Interpreting research has gained fresh momentum since the mid-1980s. The long-standing dominance of the school of thought represented by Danica Seleskovitch at the École Superieure d'Interprètes et de Traducteurs in Paris came to be challenged by the efforts of researchers working at various [ p. 48 ]locations in different approaches and paradigms, prompting some to speak of a "new era" or "Renaissance" in interpreting research (e.g. Gile 1994). The present paper is an attempt to take a bird's-eye view of the present research landscape in Interpreting Studies (IS) and draw up a profile of 'schools' of research(ers) based on the literature of the past six years.

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