Abstract (eng)
The purpose of this Master's thesis is to investigate the application of the Skopos theory by Katharina Reiß and Hans J. Vermeer in the field of consecutive interpreting. A distinction will be made between “conventional” and simultaneous consecutive interpreting, to determine whether the use of technology - namely smartpens – can help or is seen as an obstacle for the interpreters. Another main aspect is directionality, which will be examined to determine the possible influence of the language direction on the interpretation in light of the Skopos theory.
The first section of the thesis gives an overview of the theoretical considerations: first of all, the Skopos theory, the Skopos hierarchy and the concept of adequacy are described, after that the differences between “conventional” and simultaneous consecutive interpreting are examined and the state of research is presented.
The second section deals with the methodology, which is based on the aforementioned theoretical foundations: Firstly, an experiment was carried out, in which interpreters translated four five-minute texts with language- and culture-specific elements from Italian into German and vice versa, with and without smartpens. Afterwards, the interpreters were interviewed to take a closer look at the interpreting strategies they had used and to better examine possibilities and limitations of smartpens. Final conclusions are drawn in the last section.