This article examines translation from the theoretical-scientific point of view. Following the development of refined tools of linguistic research during the sixties, it has become possible to speak of translation as a science. Despite this, research has tended to concentrate on linguistics, either as a syntactic phenomenon or in its more complex form of textual reality, which incorporates both semantics and pragmatics. For the analysis of the translation process, the model proposed takes into account all the variables, both synchronic and diachronic, of the linguistic sign: structure, sign relationships, culture and psychosociological relationships. The activity of translation is seen as a complex phenomenon able to take immediate account of the operation of various filters. These are the translator’s personality, the problem of the recipient, the text typology and stylistic modalities.