ABSTRACT
Abstract: Interpreting has been an enabling mechanism in the New Zealand Deaf community’s assertion of their identity and agenda as a linguistic minority. This chapter examines sociolinguistic impacts of interpreting and interpreters on the New Zealand Deaf-world1 over the period 1985 – 2002, in which professional interpreting services have been available. Also considered are ways in which interpreting has the disempowering potential to create an illusion of access or independence that has not been actualised. As one of the first group of sign language interpreters trained in 1985, the writer bases the analysis on her involvement in the development of the profession and her observation of the Deaf/hearing interface since that time. Although written from an interpreter’s point of view, the chapter also draws upon Deaf people’s accounts of their experiences regarding interpreting.
