The theory of translation is subdivided into general theoró, dealing with the general characteristics of translations, regardless of its tópe, ànd special branches concerned, with à theoretical description and analysis of the various types of translation, such as the translation îf fiction,poetry,technical and scientific literàture, official documents etc. The general theoró of translation has a clearly defined subject-matter: the process of translation in its entirety, including its results, with due regard for all the factors, affecting it. Each special branch depends and specifies the general theory for it is the job of the general theory to reflect what is ñîmmon to all types and varieties of translation while the special branches are mainly concerned, with the specific of each genre.
The general theory of translation is an interdisciplinary area, predominantly linguistic but also closely allied to psychology, ethnography and area studies. It is based on the application of linguistic theory to a specific type of speech behavior, i.e., translation.
It differs from contrastive linguistics in that the former seek to compare different language systems with a view to determine their similarities and distinctive features while the theory of translation has a subject-matter of its own (the process of translation) and uses the data of contrastive linguistics merely as a point of departure.

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