ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the implications for translation of changing experiences of space and time in the contemporary world. It argues for a decisive shift from macro-modernity to micro-modernity in the late modern period, and explores how the perspective of micro-modernity illuminates actual and future practices of translation in the areas of new technology, migration and urbanization. Three privileged sites of micro-modernity are mobility, digital worlds and urbanization. This chapter explores each of these sites, incorporating specific translational perspectives where appropriate. One common way of discussing both historical and contemporary developments in the context of urbanization and globalization is to speak about 'cultural translation'. In discussing cultural translation, part of the difficulty lies with the way in which culture itself has assumed a foundational role in contemporary society. It is possible to argue, however, that the notion of cultural translation highlights an even more fundamental feature of contemporary societies than the oft-repeated lingering hegemony of nation-states, namely, an intolerance of conflict.
