The Interpreter on the (Talk) Show

AbstractThis paper analyses dialogue interpreting in the context of the televised talk show. In the first part I examine some basic issues related to broadcast talk. Among these are the television speech context, the distinction between on-screen and off-screen participants, the function of the presenter, the use of language and the goal of communication. In the second part of the article – using a framework which draws on conversational analysis, and taking data from a large corpus of Italian talk shows – I explore how the interpreter’s role and identity are interactionally constructed by participants. I argue that the talk show features a greater visibility and involvement of the interpreter in terms of meaning negotiation, topic management and turn-taking behaviour, all of which calls for extra competence as compared to other institutional settings. Finally, I point to the need for research to adopt a sociolinguistic approach in order to gear training to the realities of the interpreting profession.