ABSTRACT
This chapter examines what professional interpreters have to say about their move into the spotlight and about their representation in fiction. It discusses the four categories of interpreters in twenty-first century postcolonial novels: the postcolonial hybrid interpreter with conflicting loyalties, the postcolonial hybrid interpreter in the midst of an identity crisis, the postcolonial interpreter torn by moral and ethical issues; and the interpreter who aspires to have a voice of his own, become a translator, or eventually an author. Professional interpreters are of course aware that the fictional interpreter is used as "a hook to hang the story on", but they seem to resent his/her literary image. The chapter explains the real-life interpreters' somewhat belligerent reaction to the meek ones. The professional voices are less venomous when the plot offers little information about working in the booth. The chapter provides to collect data on the reactions of real interpreters to their fictional counterparts.
