Arising from cultural anthropology, postcolonial translation theory is based on the idea that translation has served as an important channel of empire. This introduction to this critical approach focuses on how translation is used to colonize, how colonial attitudes survive in the translation marketplace, and the utopian use of translation to decolonize the mind. The author provides a general presentation of postcolonial theory, examines theories of the power differentials that control what gets translated and how, and traces the historical development of postcolonial thought about translation. The text also explores the negative and positive impact of translation in the postcolonial context, reviewing critiques of postcolonial translation theory.