In this introductory paper Hans Vermeer pronounces his hopes that the papers presented at the congress will constitute relative progress for translation studies. If it is not clear what is meant by progress, then it is even more difficult to define. To explore the concept, the author refers to Novalis and his notion of mythical translation. Vermeer sees mythical translation as not strictly verbal and polysystemic, and as contributing to the evolution of culture. Vermeer also muses on the use of translation historiography. Referring to St-Jerome and Schleiermacher, he shows how historical texts are also open to interpretation. Re-interpretation of a theory in light of a later development can also be seen as progress. In the remainder of the article, the author sketches an overview of how the approach to translation evolved from a view of translation as a mere linguistic transcoding of the text, to translation as a culture-sensitive product.