Towards a macro-polysystem hypothesis

Some scholars who have taken the ‘cultural turn’ have abandoned Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory, which they feel to be limited as a framework for the study of translation in its socio-cultural environment. However, their work seems to have become less systemic and less descriptivistic. Therefore, this article proposes an augmented version of the polysystem hypothesis. In the model proposed the political and the ideological polysystems, each consisting of competing systems, assume central positions in the macro-polysystem of a culture, and issue norms that also influence norms originating from other polysystems. within this system, and that translation activities are governed by norms originating from a variety of polysystems apart from the translational polysystem itself. © 2000, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.