The stories interpreters tell

Item

Title
The stories interpreters tell
Creator
Peter Flora
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies
Project Type
thesis
Date
5/23/2013
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to start a collection of folklore of the American Sign Language interpreting community and to initiate a conversation about the role these stories play within the community. The initial hypothesis was that there are folklore stories which circulate among the members of the interpreter occupational folk group. Since there had been no other study of this kind done in the ASL interpreting community, a single story was chosen as a starting point for research on the topic. The chosen tale for the focus of this research was about the students/new interpreter told by the seasoned interpreter. The working hypothesis was that these stories reinforced a specific structure within the field and represent unease toward perceived changes to the field. No research into the folklore of the American Signed Language interpreting community had been done at the time of this research, therefore the majority of literature reviewed was on the topic of folklore studies to provide a foundation for inquiry. Face- to-face interviews, conducted with three experienced interpreters, were used to collect the stories and gather the impressions. The data revealed that seasoned interpreters do indeed circulate stories about the students/new interpreters living and working in the Pacific Northwest. The informants’ perceptions of how the stories function differed, however all agreed the stories exist and influence the field. Further research on the American Signed Language interpreting community’s folklore, as well as further expansion on the specific stories investigated for this research, is recommended.
Committee Member
Amanda R. Smith, Curtis Yehnert, Elisa Maroney
Rights
Western Oregon University Library has determined, as of 6/26/2018, this item is in copyright, which is held by the author. Users may use the item in accordance with copyright limitations and exceptions, including fair use. For other uses, please ask permission from the author at the email address listed above.
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Language
eng
Date Available
5/28/2013
Type
Text
Identifier
theses/5