An Analysis Of Interpreting Strategy Choice Of The Interpreter In The Business Conference From The Perspective Of Game Theory

As the opening up and reform deepen and economy grew in China, the communication and trade between China and foreign countries have been getting more and more frequent. As a result, interpreters in all areas are in great demand. Interpreting is an interlingual and intercultural communicative activity, therefore, discussing interpreting from the perspectives of language, culture and communication has been the mainstream of the interpreting study.Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics fashioned to analyze certain situations in which there is interplay between parties that may have similar, opposed, or mixed interests. There exists conflicts and competition in lingual communication. Since interpreting is a cross-lingual communication activity, there also exists language game in interpreting.This thesis tries to uncover the motivation and reasons behind the use of specific interpreting strategies by the interpreter from the perspective of game theory. The thesis is based on the argument that "interpreting is a goal and demand-driven activity", and proceeds to conclude that "interpreting is a game—a game between the interpreter on one side and the client, speaker, target audience, other interpreters and critics on the other side". It holds that in the interpreting process the interpreter cannot always maximize his/her personal utilities in handling all kinds of situations; he/she must also take account of the utilities of other parties and make compromises with them.Although in reality the games between the interpreter and other players in the process of business conference interpreting may be played simultaneously and have mutual influence on each other, the interpreter's games with different players are discussed separately in this thesis. Every player involved in interpreting activities is rational, for they all seek to play in a manner that maximizes their own utility. Usually, the interpreter strives to make his/her proposal come true at the cost of certain compromise to other players, but if some interpreters care only about their own utility in some situations, games would be interrupted and can hardly move on. All the players would benefit at the end of these games:the client's needs are satisfied; speakers are better understood; the audience get the speaker's intention and could take actions accordingly; and most importantly, in the process the interpreter has gradually developed the competence to deal with tough interpreting tasks and resolve difficult interpreting problems, and finally the profession of interpretation will reach a new level.