Equivalence in Translation. Translation Studies as an Interdiscipline

The phenomenon of equivalence has been at the centre of focus for numerous researchers during the past decades, especially in the field of translation studies, equivalence being one of the key concepts of translation theory. However, the concept has also come to be regarded as highly elusive and oftentimes difficult to define and achieve. In addition to this, translation itself is regarded as a multifaceted discipline, which has always been looked upon in various diverse manners. Even though these definitions vary greatly, they do have some common denominators: the reference to the two languages involved in the translation process (source language and target language) and the creation of equivalence between the original and the translated text, in order to preserve the original’s characteristics. In the present paper we attempt to shed light on some of the characteristics of equivalence in translation, and by resorting to a series of theoretical considerations, as well as practical examples, demonstrate how equivalence is sometimes challenging to achieve.