Liaison interpreting or escort interpreting? A study onlibras-portuguese interpretation Within the business area

Abstract

In Brazil, the concepts of “liaison interpretation” and of “escort interpretation”, used in sign languages, have been represented by only a few discussions in the academic productions of Interpretation Studies. This text presents and discusses some of the nomenclatures assigned to the performance of interpreters in the business area, such as the escort interpreting, in Brasil known as “interpretação de acompanhamento”, or liaison interpreting, popularly disseminated in this country as “interpretação de ligação”. In academic productions, this same kind of interpretation is named as community interpretation. Couto et al. (2010), Torres and Silva (2014), Hsieh (2003), Pöchhacker (2010), and Russo (2004) are some of the authors who support this study. The text is structured in the following sections: the introduction presents the main demands of this field; the next part proposes a reflection on Interpretation Studies and the business area; the third part discusses the variety of names attributed to the professional working in this field, and the implications of these concepts in the performance of Portuguese- Libras’ interpreters. In the final remarks, the main topics discussed in the text are listed from a more inclusive and mature perspective.