Interpreters’ perception of quality in songs translated into SSL

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in requests for professional interpreting services for the translation of songs into Spanish Sign Language (LSE), either in live performances or in musical videos. At the same time, deaf people have started to demand an improvement in the quality of these translations, both from a linguistic and cultural perspective. For this reason, and due to the scarcity of research, we set out to determine the meaning and characterisation of quality applied to the translation of songs into LSE by professional interpreters. An exploratory qualitative study was carried out in which in-depth interviews were conducted with nine LSE interpreters, both deaf and hearing. The analysis of the data revealed that the notion of quality is related to the fulfilment of a series of parameters, both linguistic and non-linguistic, such as the correct use of LSE or the attitude shown by the interpreters.