Development of Conference Interpreting in The Baltic States: Estonia’s Case Study from 1918 to 1940

Abstract

This paper aims to provide insight into the early years of interpreting in Estonia, which laid the foundation for the expertise of today’s conference interpreters. Neither the history of interpreting nor the explosive growth of international assignments after the restoration of independence in 1991 has been studied. The ethnographic approach of the article focuses specifically on the period from 1918 to 1940, the first era of independence in the history of the Republic of Estonia. The research question is to what extent Estonia used interpreting as a young state to increase its symbolic capital as defined by Pierre Bourdieu. This period was studied by analysing 36 memoirs written by Estonian diplomats, as well as the minutes from the peace negotiations held between Estonia and Russia in 1919. Newspapers published in Estonia from 1918 to 1940 were also examined in order to discover whether interpreting or interpreters were mentioned. 48 articles out of hundreds published over that period contained relevant information and have been analysed. The results display the evolution of conference interpreting in Estonia from its earliest known use in 1918 to the interpretation of public lectures and other events, and also demonstrate the symbolic power of the official language.