In contrast to the technical translator, the literary translator is constrained by the source text. If it is a famous text or canonical text then problems arise for the translator : should he/she feel bound by the place which the source text occupies in its native system. However, translators may also refuse to be bound by the source text, aiming their translations at a specific readership. The author refers to polysystems theory to emphasize the importance of cultural history in any examination of translation. She takes the cases of the sonnet and the Norse saga to illustrate the difficulty in generalizing about patterns of literary history. Whereas the sonnet was transferred into English, the saga remained outside the English literary system. What seems clear, however, is that the needs and conventions of the target system will condition what happens in the translation process and the eventual fate of the translations.