Between Fidelity and Freedom in Translation Studies

The translation is a main phenomenon in today’s society. It ensures the exchanges between peoples allowing meanwhile the cultural diversity and the national identities. It also possesses a human and cultural dimension which characterized this activity during centuries. The objective of any translation and every translator is to realize a faithful translation. Since man started translating, he never stopped emitting reflections about the way of translating faithfully. However, what does fidelity mean to translation? Reflecting on the translating operation, translators managed to express theories and sometimes fragment of theories about translation, and almost always, the difference between the free and the literal translation questions the fidelity of translation. The article’s purpose is to present, certainly not in an exhaustive way, various conceptions about the notion of fidelity in translation, which continues to leave perplexed the translators even today. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n13p149