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Volume I
Section 1.2: A Brief History of Remote Interpreting

The early evolution of remote interpreting

Figure 1.1: Evolution of remote interpreting 3

Before languages were ever written down, we needed interpreters: that is, individuals who knew
more than one language and could help different groups understand each other (Pöchhacker, 2016,
p. 9).

However, interpreting was not seen as its own profession until less than a century ago (Gaiba,
1998, p. 19). The modern interpreting profession may be recent, but it is amazing to be part of a
long tradition of interpreters that stretches back thousands of years!

Until the 1920s, all interpreting was performed face to face. Then cutting-edge developments based
on telephone technology led to the first instances of the interpreter being removed from sitting or
standing directly alongside the speakers to being located somewhat at a distance, although still in
the same room (Flerov, 2013). Indeed, it was initially referred to as telephone interpreting because
the first simultaneous interpreting technology was created using telephone equipment available
at that time. 4

This new technology was used only intermittently until the historic Nuremberg trials of Nazi war
criminals in 1945 created an urgent demand. The whole world was paying attention. The stakes
were high. Accuracy was critical. But the multiple trials needed too many interpreters in too many
languages for consecutive interpreting to be effective. Thus, the new technology was adopted to
handle the overwhelming multilingual communication requirements at Nuremberg.

How was the technology used? Simultaneous interpreting stations were set up that separated
interpreters from the audience, while still being located in the same room. These stations allowed
interpreters to speak into microphones, and the audience listened to their language of choice
through headsets.

3 Image information sources: Kelly, 2008, p. 5; Braun, 2015, p. 4.
4 Whispering and the Origin of Simultaneous Interpreting (cont.). Unprofessional Translation Blog, December 12,
2012. Retrieved from: https://unprofessionaltranslation.blogspot.com/2012/12/whispering-and-invention-of.html

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