On Limits Of Translatability In Simultaneous Interpretation

Interpreting studies are one of the burgeoning"hotspots"in translation studies. Achievements, so far, have been made mainly on the psychological and cognitive issues in interpreting, namely, memory capacity, division of attention, etc. This thesis, starting with the analysis of the unique characteristics of simultaneous interpretation (SI), compared with those of written translation, firstly discusses the shared limits of translatability in both practices, and then makes a special effort to exploit and examine the particular limits of translatability in SI and the corresponding adjustments as well. The practical meaning of the thesis is that the awareness and cognizance of such translational limitations would help simultaneous interpreters better maneuver the available resources in the booth, command the interpreting progress and thus optimizes their performance.In the discussion of the translatability issues in SI, plenty of psychological and cognitive theories concerning the memory and attention of interpreters are quoted as evidence, and a new term—psycho-cognitive limits of translatability is tentatively coined and promoted. Next, the thesis probes into the technical limits of translatability in SI based on the unique techniques adopted by simultaneous interpreters. Most of the examples of interpretation are carefully selected from the spot recording of a SI scene. The written text of the recording is attached to the thesis as an appendix in both languages after going through a careful anatomy by the author of the thesis. The representative examples, relying on the support of the careful and detailed theories, prove the existence of the limits of translatability in simultaneous interpretation different from those in written translation. Thus, a quite complete framework of limits of translatability in SI is unfolded, in which the linguistic limits of translatability, the cultural limits of translatability, the psycho-cognitive limits of translatability and the technical limits of translatability are included.Some of the issues in this thesis may have been studied and discussed by others, e.g. the translatability or untranslatability in translation, yet this hot topic is seen from a new angle in a new sub-discipline in translation studies this time, i.e. limits of translatability in simultaneous interpretation.