Interpreter’s Subjectivity In Public Speech From The Perspective Of Discourse-Power Theory

Public speaking,an art with thousands years of history,plays an effective role in winning audience’s echoes to pass down valuable insights.The increasing number of international exchange occasions has brought multiple opportunities for interpreters to communicate with both speakers and audience across various cultures.The subjectivity of those interpreters is yet to be fully understood-interpreters do not simply serve as "devices".Based on Foucault’s power discourse theory,this paper holds that interpreters control communicative power by participating in discourse,filtering information,and keeping a balanced relationship between speakers and audience(Ren Wen and Mason 2011:63).On the occasion of a public speech,interpreters not only express ideas via linguistic tools,but also exercise social power under the influence of their own ideology,background knowledge,religions,aesthetic cognition,etc.The case study focuses on the interpreter’s subjectivity by analyzing specific interpreting strategies in My Story and My Chinese Dream,the speech delivered by Bai Yansong in Yale University.The interpreter’s output is compared with the literal translation of the source text to magnify differences between the two versions,thus making the communicative power of the interpreter more clear and convincing.The study elaborates on how the interpreter serves as a communicator,instructor,information filter,and power mediator.Non-neutrality principle will also be mentioned.This paper also triggers the question of how to strike a balance between subjectivity and traditional ethical standards of fidelity during interpreting,which is worth deep exploration and research in the coming years.