ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes that defensive interpreting and its alternative expository interpreting are descriptive of overall professional stances that are taken by interpreters in various situations which ultimately may or may not prove beneficial to the consumers of interpreting services. The identification and denomination of these professional stances and corresponding practices may—for both interpreters, educators and consumers—facilitate the recognition and management of interpreter stance. The chapter highlights the proposed contrast between defensive and expository interpreting and how awareness of this distinction may lead to reflection on current practices and concepts. The concepts of defensive and expository interpreting have implications for practitioners and educators. Defensive and expository interpreting, however, focus not on the role of the interpreter or the cognitive processes whereby an interpreter arrives at a decision but rather the stance the practitioner takes in their overall professionalism and the relation of this stance to the fidelity with which they carry out their responsibility to act in the clients' best interest.
