Perils of translation

From the Chronicle of Higher Education: "Translation wars leave bodies on the battlefield, for serious issues of communication and aesthetics are at stake whenever we switch languages. Where does the translator's primary obligation lie? To serve the original author and the texture of the source language, or to accommodate the target readership? How and when should a translation sound 'strange'? How much of the everyday culture surrounding a word must the translator command, in order to recreate its context and pinpoint what is untranslatable? If the necessary information cannot be packed into an image or concept in the host language, should the translator resort to footnotes or glosses?"