Multimodal Affordances in Diplomatic Interpreting

This book offers an in-depth exploration of diplomatic interpreting as a complex form of multimodal interaction, drawing on examples from China–U.S. diplomatic interpreting activities to demonstrate the nuances of meaning transfer across modes and contexts.

The volume introduces the notion of interpreting being inherently multimodal through its employment of a range of semiotic repertoires, including linguistic modes, gesture, audial information, spatial arrangement, and visual imagery. Featuring case studies from China–U.S. diplomatic interpreting scenarios, Cen and Irwin examine the means and reasons by which interpreters mediate the range of multimodal semiotic resources in such situations in order to accommodate different meanings across varied contexts and their strategies for contextualizing and recontextualizing meaning while navigating different diplomatic interests and interpersonal relationships. Taken together, the book outlines a new framework for understanding and analyzing bilateral interpreting through a multimodal lens, with implications for interpreting in international studies on a wider scale.

This volume will be valuable reading for students and scholars in interpreting studies, applied linguistics, intercultural communication, and international relations.