Gli effetti della pandemia da COVID-19 sull’interpretazione simultanea: come cambia il panorama. Una indagine tra interpreti e organizzatori di eventi in Italia.

This dissertation deals with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the event planning business and simultaneous interpreting service in Italy with a focus on Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI). RSI was first tested by international institutions (e.g. the United Nations and the European Union) in the 1970s with the aim of reducing travel costs and saving space at meeting venues. During the early tests interpreters worked in soundproof booths with their colleagues, in a different location from delegates and speakers. Later on, technological advances and the development of online interpreting platforms enabled interpreters to work offsite, away from their clients and even from their colleagues. The expression Remote Simultaneous Interpreting is currently used to refer to simultaneous interpreting provided via an online platform. In this modality, interpreters can work offsite, either from home or from an interpreting hub, and can join the meeting online. The outbreak and spread of the Covid-19 pandemic have had a dramatic impact on the event planning industry, making RSI the only viable option to provide simultaneous interpreting for online meetings and events. Hence, interpreters have often worked from home without any onsite technical assistance and colleagues’ support. However, no extensive data collection has been carried out so far to investigate the impact of the pandemic on professional event organisers and conference interpreters in Italy on a large scale. To try and contribute to map RSI use in Italy, two online questionnaires were designed and distributed to event organisers and conference interpreters between December 2020 and February 2021. The analysis of the results shows that most events have been cancelled and that there has been a significant increase in the use of RSI. Interpreters have mainly worked from home and the new modality has had a huge impact on their working conditions and their health.