Beginning with a discussion of the concept of role in general and then to an overview of the research into human communication dynamics, this book explores the impact of introducing an interpreter into a complex and sometimes sensitive interactive setting.

Traditionally interpreters have been taught that they should not influence the communication process and, to minimize their impact, they should maintain an impersonal, professional distance. They should not interact with the interlocutors other than to interpret the meaning of their utterances; these behaviours are reinforced by the Codes of Practice adopted by many of the national interpreting organizations. These traditional behaviours often hinder rather than facilitate communication between interlocutors who don't share a common language.

The book looks at three dimensions of interactions: the axes of presentation of 'self', participant alignment and interaction management. It demonstrates, with real-world examples, how different interpreting scenarios require the interpreter to play very different roles. It is the variations along these different axes that create 'role-space', a term used to denote the parameters that inform the interpreter's behaviour.