ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates interpreters' use of direct speech, comparing their talk with primary interlocutors' corresponding talk. It demonstrates a range of possibilities and limitations inherent in the role of interpreter in face-to-face interaction. The communicative events selected for analyses in this chapter involve some instances where the interpreter's need to mark the distinction between the currently speaking self and the meaning other is particularly stressed. The chapter explores the distribution of responsibility in interpreter-mediated interaction, and the complexity of the role of interpreter, by problematizing the notion of interpreter neutrality, investigating how, in interpreters' conveying of others' speech, the interpreter's self is distinguished from others' selves. Also focusing on interpreters' use of direct speech, compared to preceding speakers' mode of speaking. The interpreters themselves, as well as their co-actors, set limits on their actions and create new possibilities. The analyses suggest a wide definition of talk, including not only 'talk-as-text', and not only talk as verbal activity.
