List of figures p. ix
List of tables p. x
Acknowledgments p. xi
List of abbreviations p. xiii
Prologue p. 1
Questioning invisibility p. 7
Previous studies on interpreting in a medical setting p. 12
Communication in the medical encounter p. 15
The essence of the doctor-patient relationship p. 15
Communication issues in a bilingual medical encounter p. 18
Navigating across languages and cultures: the need for interpreters p. 21
A different set of lenses p. 26
Looking at the interpreter's role through different lenses p. 26
The lens of society and the institution p. 27
The lens of the interaction p. 29
The lens of discourse p. 33
Monolingual and interpreted communicative events: differences and similarities p. 34
California Hope: a public hospital in changing times p. 44
Finding a study site p. 44
The pilot study p. 44
Obtaining consent p. 45
The in-depth study p. 46
The town p. 46
The hospital p. 46
The study site p. 48
The staff p. 48
The workplace p. 52
Working hours and interpreters' responsibilities p. 53
A typical day at Interpreting Services p. 55
Putting it all together p. 58
Data collection, coding, and analysis p. 59
Artifacts p. 59
Field notes p. 59
The interpreter interpersonal role inventory p. 61
Interviews p. 62
Audio recordings of ICEs p. 63
Categories and subcategories emerging from ICEs p. 69
Nature of the ICE p. 69
Intention of the ICE p. 70
Visibility of the interpreter p. 71
Finding visibility p. 73
The nature of the ICE at California Hope p. 73
The structure of the ICE at California Hope p. 74
Interpreter visibility: an overview p. 75
Manifestations of visibility in ICEs at California Hope p. 76
Becoming visible: linguistic and communicative strategies p. 77
Minor visibility: occasional involvement of interpreter as co-owner of text p. 79
Typical openings of an ICE p. 79
Typical closings of an ICE p. 82
Major visibility: interpreters as owners of text p. 85
Interpreters' voices p. 105
Roberto, the manager p. 105
Annette p. 108
Consuelo p. 110
Elda p. 112
Joaquin p. 114
Julio p. 118
Marcos p. 120
Mariana p. 121
Mauro p. 123
Rogelio p. 124
Vicente p. 125
Emerging metaphors and final words p. 129
Interpreters as detectives p. 129
Interpreters as multi-purpose bridges p. 130
Interpreters as diamond connoisseurs p. 131
Interpreters as miners p. 131
Pulling it all together p. 132
Theoretical implications p. 133
Practical implications p. 135
Concerns and curiosities revisited p. 140
References p. 142
Index p. 147