Norms

This article discusses the application to interpreting of the notion of “translational norms”, as conceived by Toury (‘preliminary norms’, ‘initial norm’, ‘operational norms’) and integrated by Chesterman (1993). This notion, utilized in interpreting research since the early 1990s, was first introduced by Gideon Toury in 1980 as a category for the descriptive analysis of translation phenomena, norms are defined as “the translation of general values or ideas shared by a community – as to what would count as right or wrong, adequate or inadequate – into performance ‘instructions’ appropriate for and applicable to concrete situations” (Toury 2012: 63). The proposal to extend the concept of translational norms to interpreting, grounded in the conceptualization of interpreting as a specific form of translation, was originally made by Shlesinger (1989), and then taken up by various other authors in Interpreting Studies (e.g. Harris 1990; Schjoldager 1995; Gile 1999; Garzone 2002; Marzocchi 2005; Duflou 2007; Diriker 1999, 2004, 2008; Straniero Sergio 2003; Toledano Buendía 2010), whose theorizations are discussed in the article. Attention is also given to issues concerning the application of the notion of norms to community interpreting, as discussed for instance by Inghilleri (2003) in her work on asylum settings in the UK.