Abstract

The present study pays tribute to Straniero Sergio’s (2003) analysis of simultaneous interpreting (SI) at Formula One Press Conferences (FPCs) by resuming the examination of this characteristic form of media interpreting twenty years after its inauguration. The corpus analysed is composed of three video-recordings of the EN>IT SIs of the press conferences that preceded the Grand Prix in Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and the USA in 2022. The recordings have been downloaded from the website of Sky Sport and transcribed using the Elan software. As the corpus is limited and contains performances by one interpreter only, it is analysed building on the data scrutinised and the findings outlined by Straniero Sergio (2003), who examined quality in the FPC context and illustrated the norms that characterise interpreting in this setting. Against the background of his analysis of FPCs, the present study yields apparently contradictory results: while, to a certain extent, omissions, generalisations, neutral finishes, parallel formulations and summarised renditions do appear to be used as emergency strategies, the interpreter’s turns stand out for his ability to translate technical terms and expressions accurately and effectively. Besides contextual knowledge, he displays procedural knowledge: strategies including the deliberate omission of hedges, the skilful use of repetitions to enhance clarity and the production of nominal sentences all enable the interpreter to keep up with the fast pace of delivery and make up for the difficulties that notoriously render the FPC ‘a terrible experience for interpreters’ (Straniero Sergio 2003: 139).

Keywords: Formula One Press Conference FPC, interview, simultaneous interpreting, speed, Thursday Press Conference TPC

About the author(s)

Emanuele Brambilla is Associate Professor at the Department of Legal, Language, Interpreting and Translation Studies (IUSLIT) of the University of Trieste, where he teaches EN-IT dialogue interpreting. His research interests include Corpus-based Interpreting Studies and the application of argumentation theories to dialogue and conference interpreting studies. He is a member of the editorial boards of the international journals Journal of Argumentation in Context (John Benjamins), Argumentation (Springer) and The Interpreters’ Newsletter (EUT). He co-edited issues 27 and 28 of The Interpreters’ Newsletter. He is author of the monograph The Quest for Argumentative Equivalence. Argumentative Patterns in Political Interpreting Contexts (John Benjamins, 2020). His recent publications include “Etiamsi omnes, ego non: an exploratory study of argument types in separate opinions” (Comparative Legilinguistics, forthcoming) and “On the defence of antifascist Italy in Alcide De Gasperi’s 1946 speech to the Paris Peace Conference” (Discourse Studies, 2023).

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