This paper discusses the impact of translation on literary traditions and the sociological elements which contribute to the shift of the canon. The effort of translation to enlarge and enrich a literary system makes it a powerful tool for the introduction of new aesthetics and trends as well as the ideology implied in them. A translation of a literary work is, in fact, a criticism of that work, a point of view on the author and the text. Poggioli's idea that translation is an interpretative art, like music, half way between reproduction or craft and a complete original creation is vital for this approach.