A model of appraisal: Spanish interpretations of President Trump’s inaugural address 2017

This article analyses President Trump’s inaugural speech (2017) from the point of view of appraisal theory. It compares the source text appraisal profile with that of six Spanish target texts (five simultaneous interpretations and one written translation) in order to identify critical points of interpreter/translator intervention. The article replicates analysis of President Obama’s 2009 inaugural speech, enabling further generalisation of the earlier findings and a refinement of methodology. This new study concurs with the earlier one in revealing that expressions of attitude rarely shift; by contrast, shifts in graduation are less frequent in Trump’s speech, possibly because the reduced speed of delivery does not force the interpreter into so many omissions. More sensitive are shifts in engagement, particularly counter-expectancy indicators and pronouns, which affect deictic positioning. The article concludes with a discussion of the methodology and the role played by speech mode, since problems described by interpreters are found more frequently in Trump’s impromptu or unscripted speeches than in the more formal scripted inauguration.