INTRODUCTION

Handbooks on literary theory and works of literary criticism almost universally ignore the phenomenon of literary translation; literary histories, even those that cover more than one national literature, rarely make more than a passing reference to the existence of translated texts. Since about the mid-1970s, a loosely-knit international group of scholars has been attempting to break the deadlock in which the study of literary translation found itself. Their aim is, to establish a new paradigm for the study of literary translation, on the basis of a comprehensive theory and ongoing practical research. As a theoretical model the polysystem theory appears to provide an adequate framework for the systematic study of translated literature. The net result of the new approach to translation is a considerable widening of the horizon, since any and all phenomena relating to translation, in the broadest sense, become objects of study.