Itisinterestingthatbesidestheabovefivefactorsa lotofparticipantsmentionedtwoad-ditionalfactorswhich,theysaid,alsoplaya roleintheprestigeoftheirjob:(1)exclusivity
(otherscannotperformthesamejob),aninsiderrole;(2)regulations.Theysaidthatitadds
totheprestigeofa jobifonlya certainpersoncanperformthatwork,orifitisdifficultto
becomethepractitionerofthatjob,oroneneedstohavespecialtalentsorqualifications(see
quotationsfromI3,I5andI7below):
I3:Howdifficultitistogetintothatcircle[thecircleofpractitioners];whatare
thecriteriaofthatprofession,howI gotin,howI madeit;howmuchpeoplethink
thatyouneedtalent,e.g.inHungarypeopleoftenthinkthatifyouspeaklan-guagesthenyouarea rocketscientistandyoubelongtoa privilegedcircle[...].
I5:Themoreyoufeelthatthisjobcouldnotbedonebyothers,onlythatperson
oronlythepersonwhohasthatqualificationortalentsandnotothers,then
maybethehighertheprestigeis.(->education)
I7:[...]withoutyouanimportantpieceofcommunicationcouldnottakeplace
[...].(->usefulness)
Thisfactorisconnectedbyparticipantstoeducationandalsousefulness,aswitheducation
onecanattaincertainskillstobeabletoperforma job,andusefulnessisimportanthere,
too,asthefewerthepeoplearewhocandoa certainjob,themoreusefulthesefeware.
Inconnectionwithhowfashionablea jobis,participantsmentionedthat“unfortunately”
interpretingcoursesaremoreandmorefashionableorpopular(e.g.I5).Thiswaytheyreferred
tothefactthatitisbecominglessexclusivetoworkasaninterpreter,sincewiththeappear-anceofcoursesininstitutionsmoreandmorestudentslearntheartofinterpreting,anditis
notthesameasintheCommunistera,whenitwaspracticedonlybya privilegedfew,who
spokeWesternlanguages,somaybealthoughestablishedcoursesaddtoprestige,theresult−
thatinterpretingis“lessexclusive”today−maytakea littleawayfromjobprestige(I11).
Someparticipantsmentionedthatinterpretershavea certaininsiderroleincommunica-tion.I7andI9referredtothisfactor:
I7:[...]youcangaininsightintocertainthings,youaretreatedasanequaland
theyshareinformationwithyou,whichyouofcoursewillnotsharewithothers,
[...]andyoucangettoplaceswherea shopassistantwouldneverbeabletogo,
andyoucanseeconnections[whichotherswillnot].
I9:[...]I thinkthatthereisa certaininsiderposition,butthisdoesnotinvolve
power.
Besidesexclusivity,participantsalsomentionedtheroleofregulations:I6states,forexample,
thatifregulationswerebetter,thentheprestigeofinterpreterswouldalsobehigher.I6also
complainsthatthisisthereasonwhytheclientsdecidebasedontheprices,andnotthequal-ityoftheservice.
[...]theprestigeoftheprofessioncouldbemuchhigherifa lotoffactorschanged
[...]I triedtopushtheprofessionintherightdirection,butthiswasnotsuccess-ful,andoneofthereasonsisthathereinHungarytheprofessionisregulated
inthewrongway.
asa replytothis,I5pointsoutthatnoteventheexistingregulationsareobserved:
Iwouldbehappyifthecurrentregulationsineffectwereactuallyenforced.Itis
writtendownthatthisisa professionforwhichyouneedtohavea qualification
anda permit,butI don’tknowhowmanyclientsyouhadwhoaskedforyour
interpreterIdforexample.(->education)
I6stressedthatifinterpretershadadditionalfunctionsinsociety,e.g.thepreservationofthe
clarityoflanguageandtheroleoftransliteratingforeignwordsintoHungarian,thiswould
significantlyincreasetheprestigeofthejob.
Whenaskedabouttheroleofprofessionalorganisations,I6pointsoutthattheycouldtake
upa significantroleintheregulationoftheprofession.Hementionsthatearlierhehadbeen
a memberofMFTe,howeverhewasimpatientandhefeltthattheorganisation’srolewasnot
significantenoughandsoheleft.Hesaysthattheassociationsalreadyhaveanimportantrole
inprotectingtheinterestsofpractitioners,butthisisnotenough:
ÉvaPataky
[...]notenough,thereshouldbemore.andthiscouldbeconnectedtoregula-tions.They[theassociations]shouldpickonthelegislatorsandtheregulators
todothisandthat.[...]what’smore,theycouldevenregulatethedistribution
ofwork.Theaustrianscandothat.
I12alsosaysthatanassociationwhichworkswellcouldprotecttheinterestsofinterpreters
andcouldbea guaranteetowardsthemarketandtheclients.Therefore,itseemsthattheques-tionofregulationsiscloselyintertwinedwithprofessionalassociations.
4.4 ‘sPecial’ measurementtoolsofinterPreters’ Prestige
Therearesomeremarkablefactors,whichparticipantsmentioned,andwhicharenotcompo-nentsofinterpreters’prestige,butmayprovidecertainwaysofmeasuringprestige.Ind1I4
saidthefollowing:
[...] maybe it shows the prestige of a profession whether people address the
practitionerofthatprofessionusingthenameoftheprofession.I haveheard
forexamplepeoplesaying‘Mrengineer,please...’,butI haveneverheard‘Mr
Interpreter,please,thisisthespeechofthenextpresenter’1.
This,hethinks,isanindicationoflackofprestige,asinHungaryholdersofprestigiousjobs
areoftenaddressedas‘Msdoctor’or‘Mrarchitect’.
anotherveryinterestingpointwasmadebyI12.Shesaysthattheplaceofthebooth
alsosaysa lotabouthowmuchinterpretersarevaluedinthatparticularevent:“Sometimes
I measureourprestigethroughwhereourboothisplaced.Sometimesitseemstomethat
theyforgotaboutthefactthathumanbeingsaregoingtoworkinthebooth.”I9stresses
thathospitalitytowardstheinterpretersisanotherindicatorofprestigeatanevent:
[...]nowthatwearetalkingaboutfood...maybeitsoundssilly,butI thinkthat
thisissomethingthroughwhichyoucanmeasurethis[prestige],onwhatlevel
youaretreated.BecausesofarI haveseenthreetypesofsituations:therearesome
whoespeciallyinviteyousaying,ofcourse,comeandhavelunch,eatwithus;
thereisthecategorywhocompletelyforgetsaboutthefactthatI wasthereorthat
I amthereandI amgoingtostayfortheafternoon,sohowshouldwesolvethis;
andthethirdtypeisthetypewhomakesmesitinthecanteenfortheworkers,
togetherwiththeservicestaff.ofcourse,formeitisallthesame,becausethe
stewisexcellentinthecanteen,butthisismaybelinkedtoprestigea littlebit.
However,itisimportanttopointoutherethattheaforementionedfactorsareusedasindica
tors ofprestigebytheparticipants(thatis,theyaretheresultofprestigeorlackofprestigein
a certainway),andnotasfactorswhichinfluencetheprestigeofinterpreters(thatis,cause).
1InHungarian,thisformulaisusedforexampletoaddresslawyers,doctors,engineers,teachers,butitis
notverycommonwithotherjobs.
Theymightbea measurementtooloftheinterpreters’prestigeincertainworkingsettings,but
notnecessarilycomparedtotheprestigeofotheroccupationaltitles.
4.5 theroleofProfessionalassociations
Therespondentsgenerallywereoftheopinionthatfromthepointofviewofensuringa certain
levelofqualityandprice,associationscanplayanimportantrole,andalsointermsofprotect-ingtheinterestsofprofessionals.However,somethinkthatforthemembershipfeeonedoes
notreallyreceiveanything,e.g.jobsora guaranteedminimumprice.I11saidthefollowing:
[...]inthecaseofa professionalassociationyoupaya certainamount,andthisis
howyoubecomea member.Then[mycolleaguefromBrussels]asked:whatdo
yougetinreturn?andsookay,youpaythemembershipfeeandyouareallowed
tosaythatyouarea memberofwhatever,butactuallytheydonotguarantee
anythinginreturn.
I5pointedoutthat“itcouldbepossibletoregulatethepriceorthepricing”(->money),and
I6addsthateven“thedistributionofwork”couldberegulatedbyassociations.
Thequestionofregulatingtheminimumpriceisveryinteresting,asthevastmajorityof
interpretersinHungaryworkasfreelancers,thatis,entrepreneurs.Fromthispointofview
a minimumpricewouldmeana cartelanderosionofcompetition,asenterpriseswouldagree
ona priceofwhichtheycouldnotchargeless.However,inthediscussionstheparticipant
who(I6)vehementlysupportedtheideaofensuringa minimumjobfeevieweditasa minimal
salary,which,ifinterpreterswereemployedbyanemployer,wouldbereasonable.However,
duetotheirformofemploymentthiswouldbeproblematic,sothisremainsa question.
WhenI askedaboutthepossibilityofa chamberofinterpreters,similarlytolawyersorphysi-cians,I14mentioneda coupleofdrawbacks,andpointedoutthatalthoughitwouldclearly
increasetheprestigeoftheoccupation,atthesametimeitwouldentaila serviceprovision
obligationandalsoitwouldsignificantlydecreasethepricesofinterpreting,whichisquite
aninterestingconnection,ashere,a chamber,whichwouldincreaseprestige,mighthavethe
effectofreducingremuneration,whichisalsoconsideredtobea sourceofjobprestige.
generally,alloftheparticipantswereoftheopinionthatmembershipofprofessionalas-sociationsgivesa certainlevelofprestige,e.g.I11stressedthatonecanincludethemintheir
electronicsignature,anditlooksgood,andI8referredtothefactthattheyhaveanethical
codewhichcanbereferredto,ifthereareanydisputeswithclients.However,somerespond-entsemphasisedthattheycoulddomorefortheprofession.