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The cultural context – is it the ballast for the original or the chance for interpretation? The author of this article introduces the distinction between the cultural competence and the intertexuality competence. The remarks are based on the second novel by the Austrian Nobel Prize laureate Elfriede Jelinek entitled Michael. Ein Jugendbuch für die Infantilgesellschaft from 1972. The texts of culture alluded to in this book (American and German TV series, celebrities, etc.) are utilized to question the myths presented by mass media. The author comes to the conclusion that the need to foreignise results from the necessity to confront the final recipients with the cultural difference that the primary reader is confronted with.