Equivalence has long been the key concept in translation theory, providing a way of describing the relationship between source and target texts. However, as the discipline matured, equivalence was insufficient to cope with the complexity of culture, intention, and ideology in translation. The article argues that today's translators must move beyond equivalence, adopting flexible, context-based strategies to broker language, culture, and purpose.

Translation theory, equivalence, dynamic equivalence, communicative translation, Skopos theory, functionalism, cultural translation, domestication, foreignization, deconstruction.

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