ABSTRACT
This chapter overviews the discipline of Translation Studies, its main concepts, approaches, and research methods. In the field of politics, translations are both highly common and politically relevant. Authentic translations are not mirror-images of the source text, as generally assumed. The chapter explores how target texts are received in the target culture. It also explores the reasons why target text readers interpret a text in a different way than was intended by the source text producers. The chapter discusses these exploration on the basis of two authentic examples. The empirical data are English and German original texts as well as translations on topics of European integration. These texts are statements and documents by politicians, press releases, and newspaper texts. The pragmatic success or failure of a particular translation solution will become obvious in international political discourse. But political conflicts can also be caused or kindled by other strategies that involve language and translation.
