ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates how conference interpreters manipulate linguistic resources in the source texts to reconstruct the discourse of the target texts. One of the crucial aims of this study is to methodologically integrate the CDA perspective with a pertinent linguistic theory (appraisal theory) for fine-grained analysis. The case study is based on an English/Chinese interpreting corpus of panel discussions at the World Economic Forum. Results disclose that the Chinese interpreters tend to (a) strengthen positive evaluation in relation to Chinese economic policies and (b) mitigate related negative evaluation and ‘risky’ discourse infused with negativity. Both patterns of discursive reconstruction reveal interpreters’ linguistic manipulation of evaluative expressions via adding, omitting, and changing positive or negative values. The study sheds fresh light on how inter-disciplinary approaches may serve research aims in translation and interpreting studies.
