Positioning of volunteer interpreters in the field of public service interpreting in Spanish hospitals : a Bourdieusian perspective
This thesis sets out to investigate the field of public service interpreting in southern Spain, with a particular emphasis on the position of volunteer interpreters working at two different healthcare institutions. It looks at the power relationships that develop between agents that hold different degrees of control and autonomy, especially in a context where individuals hold different forms and volume of capital in each encounter. Drawing on Bourdieuâs Theory of Practice, the study offers an in-depth examination of a group of volunteer interpreters as legitimate agents of the wider field of public service interpreting and the sub-field of healthcare interpreting, while looking at their impact on the structures and ethics of the larger field. This is the first project to employ Bourdieuâs theory in a sustained case study of a healthcare context where volunteer interpreters operate as legitimised institutional agents. One of the peculiarities of the two settings under examination is that volunteer interpreters seem to have acquired a high degree of institutionalisation, which provides them with a large volume of symbolic capital and allows them to take part in the field as legitimate members of the healthcare
Aguilar Solano, Maria Ascension
volunteer interpreters ; healthcare interpreting ; attitudinal autonomy ; institutionalisation ; alignment ; doxa
Positioning of volunteer interpreters in the field of public service interpreting in Spanish hospitals : a Bourdieusian perspective. This thesis sets out to investigate the field of public service interpreting in southern Spain, with a particular emphasis on the position of volunteer interpreters working at two different healthcare institutions. It looks at the power relationships that develop between agents that hold different degrees of control and autonomy, especially in a context where individuals hold different forms and volume of capital in each encounter. Drawing on Bourdieuâs Theory of Practice, the study offers an in-depth examination of a group of volunteer interpreters as legitimate agents of the wider field of public service interpreting and the sub-field of healthcare interpreting, while looking at their impact on the structures and ethics of the larger field. This is the first project to employ Bourdieuâs theory in a sustained case study of a healthcare context where volunteer interpreters operate as legitimised institutional agents. One of the peculiarities of the two settings under examination is that volunteer interpreters seem to have acquired a high degree of institutionalisation, which provides them with a large volume of symbolic capital and allows them to take part in the field as legitimate members of the healthcare
positioning volunteer interpreter field public_service interpret spanish hospital bourdieusian perspective set_investigate field public_service interpret southern spain particular_emphasis position volunteer interpreter work two_different healthcare institution look power relationship develop agent hold_different degree control autonomy especially context individual hold_different form volume capital encounter drawing bourdieu_theory practice study offer depth examination group volunteer interpreter legitimate agent wide field public_service interpret sub field healthcare interpreting look_impact structure ethic large field first project employ bourdieu_theory sustain case_study healthcare context volunteer interpreter operate legitimise institutional agent setting examination volunteer interpreter seem acquire high_degree institutionalisation provide large_volume symbolic capital allows take_part field legitimate member healthcare