The paper draws on the perspectives provided by the polysystem theory in Translation Studies and the "ideological" trends in the discipline in order to detect preliminary and textual translation norms that operated in Pre-Communist (Inter-War and World War II period) and Communist Romania. However, translation-related issues are examined in a wider historical, literary, cultural and political context. The "case of Aldous Huxley" is thus illustrative for more general tendencies that were manifest in terms of translation policies, textual norms and translators' status during the two distinct periods under discussion. In the paper the authors also emphasize the importance of translation studies for reception studies in general, as well as the necessity for translation criticism both to improve translation standards at a given time and to highlight the translators' remarkable achievements that frequently tend to be overlooked.