In translation studies as well as other disciplines metaphors serve an important epistemic function in the modelling of theories. A feminist critique of the metaphor of “fidelity”, dominant in translatological discourse to the present day, reveals male chauvinist attitudes, which — apart from being obsolete — promote an understanding of translation as reproduction. Rather than metaphorically defining translation as a mere reproductive activity, translation theory should argue an understanding of translation as text production within the wider context of “intertextuality”. (Renate Resch)