ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to characterize and connect the fields of intercultural communication and translation and interpreting. Following a discussion of the phenomena of translation, interpreting and intercultural communication, I will describe two relevant opposing research strands. Given the importance of the notion of culture in both strands, I will then examine the relationship between language and culture, and present a functional-pragmatic theory of translation/interpreting as re-contextualization in intercultural communication. A cornerstone of this theory is the postulation of two fundamental translation types and the construct of a ‘cultural filter’. Empirical evidence for this theory is provided in the form of contrastive pragmatic and discourse analyses conducted with a particular language pair. Finally, the increasing dominance of one particular language used as a lingua franca in intercultural communication and its impact on global communicative processes will be discussed briefly.
