Translation equivalence: Komissarov’s theory and the debate in “Translation Studies”

The notion of "equivalence" is at the center of the theoretical reflection on translation. The Soviet scholar Vilen Komissarov elaborated a theory of equivalence in translation, identifying five forms of equivalence corresponding to as many functions of the text object of translation (communicative, descriptive, syntactic, semantic, verbal). 

In this article we propose a brief analysis of the results accomplished by the research carried out by Vilen Komissarov in the light of formulations expressed by exponents of Translation Studies and in the view of an ideal international dialogue dedicated to the topic of theory and practice of translation.