The Interpretive Theory of Translation and Its Current Applications

Interpreting and translation are two of the oldest activities in the annals of human history. Records of translation activities date back over 2000 years, and since ancient times, translation has been studied by numerous scholars. Interpreting, on the other hand, had no theory of its own, so to speak, until modern times. Although the activity of interpreting dates back to ancient times, it did not begin to take shape in its modern form until 1917 at the negotiation table of the Versailles Treaty. Consecutive interpreting, in which the interpreter begins only after the speaker has finished, came about after the Versailles Treaty. In contrast, simultaneous interpreting, which has become the preferred mode, had its debut at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II. The Interpretive Theory of Translation (aka, the Theory of Sense) was developed by Danica Seleskovitch and Marianne Lederer (researchers at the Ecole Superieure d’Interprètes et de Traducteurs (ESIT) at the University of Paris III ― the so-called Paris School). The following is a brief outline of this theory. Interpretation Defined Interpretation can be universally defined as understanding speech and rewording that understanding in a different language. Theoretically, interpreting requires a faultless command of both the source and target languages, a deep insight of the subject matter and mastery of the correct methodology needed to carry out the interpreting process. In practice, of course, the situation is different. Many so-called theoretical problems of interpretation are merely practical issues borne of individual interpreters, e.g., inadequacies such as insufficient language or subject knowledge, poor interpretin