Self-repair as a norm-related strategy in simultaneous interpreting and its implications for gendered approaches to interpreting

Abstract

This paper analyses a possible gendered manifestation of norms in interpreting. It focuses on the use of self-repair, a textual expression of the norm, by male and female interpreters. Two research questions are examined: (1) whether the extent to which self-repairs occur in interpreting is gendered and (2) whether gender influences the way in which the output is repaired using editing terms. Considering the literature on gender and norm-compliance, female interpreters are expected to produce more self-repairs and editing terms than male interpreters. The research is based on the 2008 subcorpus of EPICG with French source speeches and their English and Dutch interpretations. The interpreters’ self-repairs were manually identified and statistically compared. Regarding the first question, it appears that gender influences the use of self-repairs in interpreting. As for the second one, statistical analysis reveals language-based patterns: in the English booth, women use significantly more editing terms than men. The French/Dutch subcorpus yields no significant difference. However, women seem to also use apologies as editing terms.