This article is an attempt to apply the notions of 'image' and 'face' (visage) as defined by Emmanuel Lévinas. These concepts allow us to approach literary translation not in terms of creating a resemblance to the source text but as showing the 'face' of the author re-presented through this text. This approach to the text modifies the status of the translator by integrating him into a human relationship in which he carries full responsibility. Finally, it is suggested that the translator promotes ethical demands. He becomes the guarantor of a translation whose essence is the relation to the foreign, but beyond this he is also promoting this ethical relation with his reader.