Despite the growing number of publications on a variety of facets of
translation and interpreting studies, very little material exists on the personality
of translators and interpreters. A seminar class led by Prof. Ingrid Kurz at the
Institute of Translation and Interpreting at the University of Vienna, Austria, set
itself the task of identifying the personality traits considered typical of
translators and interpreters by practitioners and researchers in the field as well as
by beginners and advanced students at the Vienna Institute.
This paper deals with existing literature in the field as well as a survey
conducted among two groups of students. Both the theoretical and empirica!
parts of the paper are based on the communication value orientation model by
Pierre Casse. Personality traits considered necessary for or typical
of translators andlor interpreters by various authors were identified and related to
Casse's value orientations. Subsequently, Casse's self-assessment exercise was
administered to beginners and advanced students at the Vienna Institute.
