Abstract

At first glance, the concept of translation appears simple, but in fact it is very complex. Fundamental questions concern the relationship between the original text and the new, translated text, between comprehensibility and fidelity and between the implications and consequences of a deceptively everyday confrontation with the other.This chapter traces salient aspects of what translating has meant throughout the history of Western society while comparing it to diverging cultural practices, with the aim of illustrating today’s challenges.