ABSTRACT
To what extent is multilingual discourse characterized by intercultural incidents? This question has been widely discussed in current research on translation and intercultural communication, especially as multilingual discourses take place in institutionalized contexts. This chapter aims to contribute to this debate by focusing on interpreted briefings for informed consent in hospitals. By analyzing questions typically posed by medical staff to multilingual patients such as “Do you have any questions?” as well as patients’ reactions to these questions, I hope to reconstruct starting points and forms of cultural actions. The discussion of these actions will shed light on how to optimize not only multilingual but also monolingual communication in institutions.
