A pragma-argumentative approach to interpreter training: switching on the light in the 'pragmatic dark'

The paper addresses the triggers of the ‘pragmatic dark’ (Viaggio 2002, 229), a frequent predicament in which interpreters find themselves when striving to translate the propositional content of a given speech, while losing sight of its point. The pragmatic dark is due to interpreters’ failed management of specific pragmatic variables of communicative events and is exacerbated by their natural tendency to focus on the co-text of a speech segment, while overlooking its contextual relevance and function (Garzone 2000, 71). Hence pragmatic failure in interpreting may occur, often resulting in substantial alterations in the transition from the source text (ST) to the interpreted text (IT). Building on evidence of pragmatic failures by professionals interpreting political speeches, the paper puts forward a pragma-argumentative approach to ten speeches delivered by David Cameron and sets out to detect prospective hindrances to speech comprehension and reproduction. Recurrent ‘pragmatic devices’ (Wodak 2007, 203) determining the argumentative orientation and pragmatic force of the speeches are examined in context to raise awareness of their functional and context-bound use and promote their reproduction in the IT. Finally, a model is proposed to draft specifically tailored tables for interpreter training and advance preparation, highlighting ST intentionality and intensity and fostering a higher degree of pragmatic quality in the IT.