Path-generating moves in professional identity building: marriage migrant community interpreters and their institutional environments in South Korea

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the trajectory of the professional identity of marriage migrant community interpreters in South Korea. The overall literature exploring the identity of translators and interpreters has displayed a rather one-sided focus on either actors or institutional environments and less attention has been directed to their interactions. In contrast, this study highlights how conflicting interactions between marriage migrant community interpreters and their institutional environments facilitate path-generating moves in community interpreters' professional identity building. An empirical analysis based on over ten years of multiple data sources including a survey, in-depth interviews, and official documents, reveals that these community interpreters face contradictory job descriptions (i.e., simultaneous implementation of roles as compassionate community helper and impartial interpreter) and insufficient remuneration for their services. Faced with the South Korean government's disregard of their calls for improvement of these unfavorable institutional environments, these community interpreters have elaborated their identity beyond their stated job descriptions via voluntary social activities and have even searched for more clearly defined jobs outside of their current professions, such as in social work. The findings illustrate that interactions between actors and institutional environments help the actors to move towards a new phase to manage the unresolved conflicts over their identity.