ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the considerations on the relation between translation and iconicity, with special reference to interlingual translation, fall within the context of a broad concept of translation viewed in a semiotic framework. In the case of interlingual translation, when "fidelity" is understood in terms of creativity and interpretation, the translating text must establish a relation of alterity with the text object of translation. With reference to Peirce's general theory of signs, in particular his iconindex-symbol triad, when a translation is successful in terms of creativity and interpretation, the relationship between the "translated text" and the "translatant text" is dominated by iconicity. Translation is an aspect of a "connective form" theorized by Thomas A. Sebeok and Marcel Danesi, a special type of modeling strategy traditionally described as metaphorical. Metaphor is a central device in human reasoning which does not merely consist in representing objects but in picturing them, depicting them.
