Interpreter-mediated discourse as a vital source of meaning potential in intercultural communication: the case of the interpreted premier-meets-the-press conferences in China

Looking beyond a micro lexicogrammatical perspective, this article takes a broader discursive and sociopolitical view of meaning potential, arguing that interpreting in various political and institutional contexts creates new meaning potentials, with interpreters serving as agents and intercultural connecting points between discourses. This often engenders additional meaning potentials for further mediation in our increasingly (re)mediat(is)ed world. Using examples of CDA analysis, this study illustrates how the already interpreter-mediated discourse at China's Premier-Meets-the-Press conferences is further quoted and (re)contextualised by media outlets, thus highlighting interpreting's role in (re)enacting and (re)instantiating meaning and contributing to the international news production and global knowledge dissemination processes. Therefore, the interpreter-mediated discourse constitutes a crucial starting point for further (ideological) manipulations globally in the form of a discursive chain across languages, cultures and media platforms.

与传统的系统功能语言学词汇语法等微观视角路径不同，本文从更宏观的话语和政治视角来探讨口译这一跨语言和跨文化沟通活动中的“意义潜势”。文章认为，在各种政治和机构话语语境中，口译员扮演着代理的角色，是源语话语和目标语话语之间的“跨文化连接点”。口译员可能对口译内容进行不同程度的(意识形态)操控，因此同源语话语相比，口译后的话语会产生新的“意义潜势”。同时，经过(意识形态)操控的译文，在媒体高度发达的今天，可能会被其它诸多国内外媒体引用，并嵌入新的语境之中。因此，在跨文化传播中，不同媒体根据其立场,可能会对口译话语进行进一步操纵。从这个角度来看，口译这一行为客观上可以创造无限的“意义潜势”。本文分析了近年中国总理记者招待会的口译话语，通过批判性话语分析, 展现口译员对源语话语的操控，并呈现口译话语如何被其它国家媒体平台援引, 并纳入新的语境解读。该研究表明，口译往往是整个国际新闻产生与传播链条的起点, 在整个跨语言、跨文化、跨平台交流过程中扮演着至关重要的角色。