Scribe or Actor? A Survey Paper on Personality Pro fil es of Translators an d Interpreters

Abstract

Despite the growing number of publications on a variety of facets of translation and interpreting studies, very little material exists on the personality of translators and interpreters. A seminar class led by Prof. Ingrid Kurz at the Institute of Translation and Interpreting at the University of Vienna, Austria, set itself the task of identifying the personality traits considered typical of translators and interpreters by practitioners and researchers in the field as well as by beginners and advanced students at the Vienna Institute. This paper deals with existing literature in the field as well as a survey conducted among two groups of students. Both the theoretical and empirica! parts of the paper are based on the communication value orientation model by Pierre Casse. Personality traits considered necessary for or typical of translators andlor interpreters by various authors were identified and related to Casse's value orientations. Subsequently, Casse's self-assessment exercise was administered to beginners and advanced students at the Vienna Institute.