Translating emotions: a netnography of affect in a conference interpreting case during COVID-19

Abstract

ABSTRACT Conducting a netnography of affect from a participatory interface on bilibili.com, this article explores emotion transmission in an interpreting task. A parallel corpus was transcribed from an interpreting assignment in a press conference led by a China–WHO joint expert team during COVID-19. Drawing on the appraisal model proposed by Martin and White, I compare the speaker's and the interpreter's attitudinal lexis, and conduct an ethnographic study of online viewers' affective comments. The findings reveal that the interpreter accentuates the force and focus of emotions in her renditions through intensification and quantification, triggering ripple emotions manifest in onscreen remarks. To understand such affect, the study examines the semiotic resource of Danmu (live comments) on the participatory website along three affect dimensions. Drawing on the audience’s verbalized emotions, this research demonstrates that the interpreter foregrounds her visibility and effectively affects audience by performing as affective labor. This study contributes to empirical studies in interpreting reception by categorizing affect and broaden its application in the field of communications.