Overlapping circles or rather an onion? The position of Flemish Sign Language interpreters in relation to the Flemish Deaf Community

“Interpreters have always occupied a unique social and cultural position relative to the communities within which they work. It is they who are positioned “between worlds” and who make possible communication with “outsiders”(Cokely, 2005, p. 3). Cokely (2005) discusses how sign language interpreting evolved as a profession in the USA. Initially, sign language interpreters (SLIs) were closely aligned to the Deaf community. However, with the evolution of a formalized interpreting profession, the relationship changed. In Flanders, Belgium, the same has been observed since the start of SLI training in the early 1980s (Leeson & Vermeerbergen, 2010; Heyerick & Vermeerbergen, 2012). This study investigates the current relationship between Flemish SLIs and the Deaf community and combines a survey with face-to-face interviews to address the following research questions: • Who is welcomed by and included in the Deaf community (DC)? • Are SLIs welcomed by and included in the DC? • If not, what is their position relative to the hearing and the Deaf ‘world’? Twenty-one informants participated in this study: 9 interpreters (1 deaf, 7 hearing and 1 CODA) and 12 Deaf community members. As a result of the recent professionalization of sign language interpreting in Flanders, a difference in perspective was expected between the younger and older deaf informants. Thus, it was decided to have two groups of informants: 6 Deaf community members were younger than 30, 6 others were over 45 years old. Results show that (a) SLI’s sign language proficiency level, (b) regular contact with the Deaf, (c) self-identification and (d) acceptance by the Deaf community determine their membership within the community. In general, CODAs and Deaf SLIs are automatically perceived as part of the Deaf community because of their upbringing, background and knowledge of both the language and culture of the community. This is different for hearing SLIs. Their position is not fixed; it is strongly determined by the SLI’s family background and individual attitude, for example whether the SLIs wants to keep a strict boundary between their work- and private life. Interestingly, acceptance of the same SLI by the Deaf community may vary over time. Most informants, therefore, situate the hearing SLIs somewhere in between the Deaf and the hearing community. The expected difference in perspective between the age gap groups (-30 and +45) was not found. However, the two eldest Deaf informants did differ in opinion, which may suggest that an age gap exists, but that it occurs on a higher age level. The opinions of the informants are illustrated in the paper by means of quotes as well as visual representations. References Cokely, D. (2005). Shifting positionality: A critical examination of the turning point in the relationship of interpreters and the Deaf community. In M. Marschark, R. Peterson & E.A. Winston (Eds.), Sign Language Interpreting and Interpreter Education (pp. 3-28). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Heyerick, I., & Vermeerbergen, M. (2012). Sign Language Interpreting in Educational Settings in Flanders, Belgium. In L. Leeson & M. Vermeerbergen (Eds.), Working with the Deaf Community: Education, Mental Health and Interpreting (pp. 119-120). Dublin: Interesource Group (Ireland) Limited. Leeson, L., & Vermeerbergen, M. (2010). Sign language intepreting and translating. In Y. Gambier & L. van Doorslaer (Eds.), Handbook of Translation Studies. Volume 1 (pp.324-329). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

ISBN:978-1-944838-51-5

Publication year:2020

Accessibility:Closed