Interpreting nonmainstream ideology (Euroscepticism) in the European Parliament

Abstract

ABSTRACT The paper investigates possible ideological shifts introduced by interpreters during plenary debates in the European Parliament when dealing with strongly Eurosceptic statements. The material undergoing this discourse analysis are Polish and English plenary contributions by a highly controversial politician, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, and the corresponding interpretations into the other language of this pair. The focus is on his Eurosceptic credo which appears at the end of many speeches and on a specific lexical label, i.e. explicit ideological elements that reoccur often in the corpus and, consequently, possess numerous interpreted versions. There is some evidence of strengthening, weakening, elimination and omission of Euroscepticism, while the trend towards reduction and suppression seems stronger than the reverse. The detected shifts are discussed against the backdrop of the constraints inherent in simultaneous interpreting and the strategies routinely used by interpreters to overcome difficulties in the source text.