INTERPRETING TABOO: DEVELOPING AND EVALUATING STRATEGIES IN THE TRANSFER OF TABOO LANGUAGE

Year 2015, Volume: 3 , 48 - 56, 01.09.2015

Summer Mouallem

Abstract

Taboo
is anything which is said or done that is seen as offensive or embarrassing.
Equally it is an agreement amongst people to NOT say or do something as it may
be seen as embarrassing or offensive! To interpret taboo is hard within the
same language community as the definition of taboo differs according to many
factors such as gender, age, social class, era and context, but it is even
harder to interpret between two language communities especially if the two
belong to cultures that are vastly different. However, omitting taboo can lead
to severe consequences that may have legal implications or may even be fatal;
hence it can no longer be ignored. Some scholars have described taboo in its
cultural and linguistic forms while others discuss to a small extent a method
to translate swear words by freeing them from their referential duties.
However, not much literature has been found so far on interpreting or the
teaching of interpreting of taboo or on the consequences of avoiding
interpreting taboo. This paper will attempt to raise awareness of the
consequences of not interpreting taboo in public service interpreting (PSI).
The author has undertaken a pilot study on 20 public service interpreting
students, as part of her PhD research, with the aim of showing and quantifying
attitudes towards interpreting taboo and to compare them with what is described
in the literature review. 

Keywords

Taboo, interpreting, training, culture

References

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