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The invisibility of interpreters protects them from being held accountable for their misinterpretations or from being accused of interference, and helps them to achieve transparent communication. But it also has implications for their professional recognition, as they must act as hidden figures. Of course they are not “truly” invisible: they are physically seen and heard, but their role is to remain in the background. The better an interpreter can facilitate interaction between people without showing any distress or that they are in difficulty, the better expert they make.

Yet, interpreting can be a difficult profession. Interpreters perform as the voices of other experts, under time constraints, facing a swirl of specialized topics and terminology, in high-stakes settings and with no safety net. It is only in failure, when they make mistakes or attract unnecessary attention, that they get noticed at all.

Invisible skills in an age of self-celebration

There is a growing body of research on the concept of invisible labour, about those types of work which are socially and culturally hidden from view. My own research is concerned with such invisible skills and competencies that people are required to perform in complex work environments. I look behind the scenes at the worlds that professionals such as interpreters inhabit, to understand the relentless work they put in.

In some professions, such as editing, digital work, care work, domestic labour, and parts of medical and nursing activities, invisibility comes with the job. Part, or all, of the work performed daily by many workers remains hidden, unacknowledged, or even obscure to both institutions and outsiders. Yet, these workers are pivotal for the completion of complex tasks and the production of specific results. That is the case of interpreters, whose expert skills of seamless linguistic mediation help other parties to succeed.