Relatore: Professor Bruno OSIMO - Bruno Osimo, traduzioni ...

That is, Lucy seemed to be trying to convey an image of a highly efficient and
competent translator, who is in absolute control of the situation. Certainly,
had the quality of the translations not been assessed at all, Lucy’s behaviour
would, on the surface, have supported the early hypotheses about professional
behaviour in translation (cf. section 2. 4.), namely that professional translators
rely on automatised processing and are able to sail through translation tasks
quickly and effortlessly. However, none of the other professional translators
performed the experimental translation task with similar ‘grace and ease’; on
the contrary, they spent considerably more time and effort on it. Moreover,
there were few instances in their protocols which could be categorised offhand
as manifestations of role distancing.
Goffman argues (1961: 130) that a person ‘who manifests much role
distance may, in fact, be alienated from the role’, but the opposite may equally
well be true, as ‘in some cases only those who feel secure in their attachment
may be able to chance the expression of distance’. Without more information
about the subjects, it is impossible to say conclusively what might have been
the reason for the obvious manifestations of role distancing in Lucy’s
behaviour, as opposed to their apparent absence from the other professional
translators’ behaviour. However, Goffman contends that (1961: 102):
Whatever the individual does and however he appears, he
knowingly and unknowingly makes information available concerning
the attributes that might be imputed to him and hence the categories in
which he might be placed.
On this basis, we can hypothesise that the differences in the professional
translators’ behaviour may imply that they wished (unconsciously) to convey
different images of their roles as translators,
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