Interpreting in a State of Emergency: Adding Fuel to the Fire

Abstract

This chapter aims at examining from a semiotic perspective instances in which an interpreter violates the code of interpreting the different messages that are produced by the interpreter compared to what the source speaker intend to say, and also the impact such violation generates on the atmosphere of the event in question. The event to be studied is a press conference held in Egypt by Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, and Mohamed ElBaradei, the interim vice-president of Egypt. The study will examine, in particular, how the interpreter’s violation contributes to the state of emergency in Egypt by making it worse. In order to do this, the chapter will examine samples of the reactions to the interpreter’s decisions published in different media.