口譯員顯身性層級有別：宋美齡於一九四三年開羅會議兼任蔣委員長口譯員之探討

Abstract

本文聚焦於宋美齡列席1943年的開羅會議並參與討論，尤其是未曾受過專業訓練的她，憑藉其雙語能力同時扮演口譯員的角色。除了夫婿，蔣夫人同時也為羅斯福總統與邱吉爾首相提供口譯服務，基於今日口譯工作者與研究者對中立性的重視，此項安排自是非比尋常。除了中立性，蔣夫人兼任口譯員也導出口譯員顯身性與忠實性的問題，長久以來，諸多口譯員行為準則和口譯研究莫不將口譯員角色加以理想化，而中立性、顯身性、忠實性正是其中三個關鍵面向。為了探討70多年前這樁重大的口譯案例，本文採取歷史與文獻研究法。然而，由於欠缺官方文件和其他原始素材，本文僅能倚賴第二手、甚至第三手資料進行研究。開羅會議是二戰期間僅有的幾場同盟國高峰會之一，準此，本文也對比歷史上一些外交場合中其他口譯員的相關事例，進一步描繪中國第一夫人如何在開羅兼任口譯員。與古今許多同儕一樣，蔣夫人除了受命協助跨語言、跨文化交流，也同時扮演其他角色：發言人、使者、談判代表。然而，相較於多數口譯同業與其服務對象大抵維繫一種專業層面上的關係，她則是以蔣委員長夫人、親信與政治夥伴的多重身分，再兼他職，並且來回轉換，此種幾乎無從逾越的個人地位與親密關係，正足以說明她不同一般的口譯員角色，同時支撐作者針對中立性、顯身性、忠實性進行歷史化與相對化的研究。

This study focuses on Madame Chiang Kai-shek’s presence and participation at the Cairo Conference of 1943, particularly her “doubling” as a “lay interpreter,” a bilingual who plays the part despite a lack of formal training. At Cairo, she interpreted not only for her husband but also for U.S. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill, which would be an extraordinary arrangement for today’s interpreting practitioners and researchers, for whom interpreter neutrality figures prominently. Besides neutrality, Madame Chiang Kai-shek’s doubling as interpreter also interrogates interpreter visibility and fidelity, two other defining aspects of the interpreter’s role as it has been idealized in codes of conduct and even to some extent in Interpreting Studies since its inception. A historical and archival approach is adopted; but the unavailability of primary sources—official transcripts or other direct records—leaves the study no other choice but to rely on secondary and even tertiary materials. Given that the Cairo Conference stood out as one of only a few summit meetings of Allied leaders during World War II, the study also compares Madame Chiang with other interpreters in diplomatic settings, to illustrate how she, first and foremost in her capacity as China’s First Lady, doubled as interpreter at Cairo. Like many of her counterparts, both in the past and today, Madame Chiang ended up performing extra roles—spokesperson, envoy, negotiator—while she was called upon to mediate cross-linguistic and cross-cultural interactions. But unlike almost all of her counterparts, who have mainly maintained a professional relationship with clients, Soong Mei-ling assumed, or shifted to and from, her extra roles in her capacity as wife, confidante, and political partner of the Generalissimo, and this almost unparalleled personal standing and intimacy explains her all but unique interpreting behavior and justifies a study to historicize and relativize values like neutrality, visibility, and fidelity.