西元711至1492年西班牙在阿拉伯文化的統治下長達七百多年。1805年，多雷托(Toledo)為第一個被西班牙收復的城市，亦成為當時西班牙的政治首都。多雷托大主教Raimundo倡導翻譯，欲藉由翻譯將中古世紀或遭受摧毀或失佚的古希臘羅馬之宗教哲學作品從阿拉伯文再轉譯回拉丁文。國王阿豐索十世(Alfonso X)則透過翻譯鞏固西班牙文取代拉丁文成為國語之地位，此時期的翻譯則不侷限於宗教哲學，而觸及其他範疇之著作。散居多雷托的回教徒、天主教徒與猶太人造就了多雷托成為中世紀歐洲翻譯的中心。綜觀而言，「多雷托翻譯學院」在西方翻譯史上佔有一席之地，不論是從翻譯的規模與影響，亦是從今日跨文化的研究範疇觀點評論。十九世紀中葉起，列強侵略中國，中國面臨存亡之威脅，迫使面臨變法圖強之改變。「江南製造局翻譯館」在此救國強民的理念下，由維新人士推動誕生，藉由翻譯輸入西方科學知識，為近代中國的現代化注入力量，走出傳統的窠臼。本論文將以東西方兩個翻譯樞紐為例，探討翻譯在人類文明發展及知識傳播所扮演的角色－以米樂的〈跨越疆界〉("Border Crossings")之概念為佐證；及翻譯在主事者－意即Lefevere所指的贊助者的思想意圖下所承載的角色與任務。

After the recapture of Toledo from the Moorish occupation, Toledo became the capital of the kingdom of Castile. During the 12th century, the translation was initiated and promoted. In the next century, King Alfonso X furthered the effort by taking works of other fields into the scope of translation. On the other hand, from mid-19th century, aggressions by foreign countries drove China to the brink of perishing. The jeopardy urged China to fulfil modernization reforms. It was under this circumstance that the Translation Department of Jiangnan Arsenal was founded. Based on analyses of these two translation centers, this current paper attempts to elaborate on the possible roles translation plays in culture development and knowledge dissemination. Also the paper will put emphasis on J. Hillis Miller’s notions on "Border Crossings" as well as Lefeveres opinion about the functions and missions of translation under the ideological influences of its patronage.