Adding Value to Language Proficiency: English and Beauty Work

Abstract

This chapter sets out to explore the intersections between language, gender, and power in the context of the saturation of the local language market, in which the focus is currently shifting from language proficiency alone to ways in which aesthetics can be added to language proficiency. As competition for translation and interpreting work becomes more intense, appearance has emerged as one way of “adding value” among female interpreters under pressure to enhance their individual competitiveness. This process is clearly evidenced by the recent media phenomenon of eoljjang tongyeoksa or “good-looking interpreters”, where physically attractive female interpreters working on television have been sensationalized in the media. Against this backdrop, this chapter explores how contemporary interpreters position themselves vis-a-vis the imperative to perform “aesthetic labour”. By examining the self-positioning of the participants in relation to this market shift, it attempts to demonstrate how English has been remoulded as an embodied capital, in which aesthetic qualities of speakers can further enhance the value attached to English language abilities.