Emotions in cognitive translation and interpreting studies 1

Abstract

Decision-making is an integral part of the translator’s job: from what texts they choose to translate and when and where, to how they choose to translate every word within the text. Translators and interpreters are affected by emotions, partly elicited by the text to be translated or the discourse to be interpreted, and partly triggered by work-related conditions. Picture yourself in a situation where you must guarantee communication between two parties, making their voices heard. Freelance translators may also suffer from stress, depression or other mental and health conditions related to financial insecurity, burnout or loneliness. In the last decades psychologists have argued that emotional intuitions govern decision-making more strongly than does logical reasoning. The hypothesis of greater utilitarian responding in the foreign language has been borne out by randomly assigning bilinguals to answer trolley dilemmas in their native or foreign language.