ranslators have long used principles of language anal-T ysis as a primary tool of their trade. Study of both the source and receptor language structures and the imperative of effective communication are hallmarks of successful translation. What has not been clearly understood is the importance of culture in the translation process. While we place great emphasis on a translation talking right, the necessity for acting right through an appropriation of sound cultural analysis has not been in focus for our discipline. We must not forget that language symbolically represents meaning that comes out of a cultural world assumed by authors as they write. Hence we have an obligation to study all the languages and cultures involved in a translation venture (what I call the “translation context”). The more we know about the cultural context from which the communication emerges and into which we seek to relate the intended message, the better we will be able to mediate the author’s intended meaning. There must be appreciation for the cultural context from which the source was communicated in order to make it relevant within the context of the receptor. It is similarly essential that translators, affected by their own language and culture, understand the effects of that perspective on the entire process.

In this article I address the issue of cultural understanding. The very nature of translation forces cultural interaction, as Kessler recently noted:“In truth, not only the various languages must be translated, but the contexts of entire human worlds.”’1 seek to describe the notion of the “translation context” by using two cultural models (the threecultures model and the cultural-distance model). While the theoretical implications cannot be detailed in this limited space, it is my contention that this is an area of much-needed research and should be the focus of future discussion within the association.