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In this essay we argue that the concept of the human body has seemingly been taken for granted in interpreting studies. The available research literature mainly explores body language, like gaze, gestures, and proximity, in connection with possible inclusion or exclusion of participants in interpreter-mediated communication. On the other hand, medical anthropology has developed several approaches to achieve a broader understanding of the body. One approach, the three bodies, divides the body into the individual body, the social body and the body politic. While the individual body stands for the subjectively, directly experiencing body, the social body refers to the body as described and categorized in social interactions and the body politic refers to the body as the center of political, social, and economic control and regulation. This division helps us to understand different aspects of, and diversity in, conceptualizations of the human body. Taking a survey among educators of healthcare personnel at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University as a starting point, this essay invites researchers from interpreting studies and medical anthropology to work together in order to contribute to awareness raising about different constructions of the body in both research, education, and practice. It also invites researchers to explore possible consequences of different conceptualizations in interpreter-mediated institutional encounters.

The People’s Republic of China is home to over 20 million d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, many among them belonging to ethnic minorities. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in two minority regions, the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, this article comparatively discusses findings on sign language use, education and state welfare policies. The situation in these domains is analysed through the framework of the ‘civilising project’, coined by Harrell, and its impacts on the d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing among ethnic minorities are shown. For instance, through the promotion of Chinese and Chinese Sign Language over and above the use of local sign and written languages as well as through education and the medicalisation of disabilities.

The comprehensive governmental approach to interpreting in the public sector in Norway includes interpreter accreditation, interpreter training, and the Norwegian National Register of Interpreters. In this article, we argue that training public service employees in how to communicate via interpreters should also be a crucial element to ensure quality interpreting and thus equal access to services for everyone. We analyze the training options in Norway, not as an isolated phenomenon, but in the context of the actors, relations, and systems that constitute interpreting in the public sector. The analysis consists of two main parts: 1) mapping the field of interpreting in the Norwegian public sector based on Ozolins’s (2000; 2010) model of governmental responses and the role of interpreter-user training and 2) examining the underlying dynamics of the current state, focusing on the role of the market and the connections between training interpreter-users and attitudes toward interpreting in the public sector. La estrategia nacional noruega sobre interpretación en los servicios públicos abarca la acreditación y formación de intérpretes y el llamado Registro Nacional de Intérpretes. En este artículo defendemos la necesidad de formar también a los empleados públicos en la comunicación mediada por intérprete para garantizar la calidad de la interpretación y el acceso igualitario a estos servicios. Las opciones formativas en Noruega se analizan no como fenómenos aislados, sino en el contexto de los actores, relaciones y sistemas que conforman la interpretación social. Nuestro análisis tiene dos partes: 1) radiografía de la interpretación en los servicios públicos noruegos según el modelo de respuestas gubernamentales de Ozolins (2000; 2010) y papel de la formación de los usuarios de interpretación y 2) análisis de las dinámicas que hoy día subyacen a esta cuestión, especialmente el papel del mercado y la relación entre formación y actitud de los usuarios de interpretación en el sector público.