This paper analyzes the role of translators/interpreters in a world in which intercultural exchanges have multiplied dramatically. If traditionally the translator has been a mediator between different linguistic and cultural universes, his role is even more important nowadays when modern technology facilitates human interaction making geographic and chronological distances dwindle. I first look at the analysis Tzvetan Todorov makes of one of the most spectacular cases of cultural clashes in the recorded history of mankind: the discovery and conquest of America by the Spaniards. Then I try to draw a parallel between the role translators/interpreters (or often their absence) played in those tragic events and their role in two crucial moments of our history, respectively: the late 19th century and the end of the following one
Key words:
translating, cultural differences, borrowings, acculturation
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