Interpreting as Critical Discursive Action: A Speech Act-Based Analysis of Diplomatic Interpreting in Chinese-English Cross-Cultural Negotiation

Abstract

Diplomatic interpreting is a highly sensitive form of mediated political communication in which linguistic choices are inseparable from power, ideology, and international relations. Drawing on speech act theory, this study examines Chinese-English interpreting during the 2021 China-US High-Level Strategic Dialogue, using the Chinese interpreters’ renditions as a qualitative corpus. By analyzing how locutionary and illocutionary force is rendered and strategically adjusted in interpretation, the study explores interpreters’ agency in conveying China’s diplomatic stance, managing confrontation, and shaping international discourse. The findings suggest that interpreters operate not merely as neutral transmitters of meaning, but as active discursive agents whose linguistic decisions contribute to the construction of diplomatic authority and national image. This study contributes to critical humanistic social theory by demonstrating how micro-level interpreting practices participate in broader structures of power and ideological contestation in global diplomacy.