Issues of saving face: Interpreting in asylum hearings

Pöllabauer, Sonja

doi:10.1075/btl.70.07pol

In:The Critical Link 4: Professionalisation of interpreting in the community
Edited by Cecilia Wadensjö, Birgitta Englund Dimitrova and Anna-Lena Nilsson
[Benjamins Translation Library 70] 2007
► pp. 39–52

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Interpreting in asylum hearings

Issues of saving face

Sonja Pöllabauer

Published online: 16 May 2007

https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.70.07pol

The study presented in this paper investigates the role of interpreters in asylum hearings in Austria. It is based on transcripts of authentic asylum hearings which were recorded at the Federal Asylum Office in Graz, Austria, and transcribed and analysed using a discourse analytical approach. In Austria, interpreters in asylum interviews are often faced with conflicting role expectations. Some aspects of the interpreters’ attempts to save their own and/or the other participants’ face will be discussed in this article.

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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.