The author discusses various approaches to the concept of the unit of translation, from those proposed by comparative stylistics to those put forward by functionalist theories, including approaches which are strictly linguistic, pragmalinguistic or text linguistic, hermeneutic, translation process-oriented psycholinguistic or semiotic. Working on the hypothesis that 'functional indicators' may be determined throughout a text, the author proposes that non-sequential 'vertical translation units' or chains or even relational webs linking the various linguistic elements with a shared communicative function, should be taken as the starting point.