ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at what translation is and how it has been described over its long history. It examines a number of age-old questions about translation. Translation is a procedure where an original text, often called ‘the source text’, is replaced by another text in a different language, often called the ‘the target text’. In translation, there is always both an orientation backwards to the original’s message and an orientation forwards towards the communicative conditions of the intended readers, and towards how similar, ‘equivalent’ texts are written in the target language. Translations have been important for the invention and spread of writing conventions, for the development of national languages and national literatures, for the spread of knowledge and political power and influence across national borders. In medieval times, the German translator of the Bible, Martin Luther, openly dared to challenge the dogma of complete faithfulness to the original, suggesting instead a much freer formulation whenever necessary.
