The name and nature of translation studies: A reappraisal

James Stratton Holmes (Iowa, 1924 – Amsterdam, 1986) is known as both a major translator/editor of poetry from Dutch (Brems and McMartin 2020, 2021) and as a teacher and researcher of translation, whose professional career was centred in the Netherlands at the University of Amsterdam. He has had a long-lasting influence on the development of the field of translation as an academic subject with his landmark essay “The Name and Nature of Translation Studies”. First presented at a 1972 conference in Copenhagen, it is “generally regarded as the founding statement of the discipline” (Gentzler 2001, 93). Yet, fifty years on, how valid is that essay in today’s context? We present a review and reappraisal of the essay in the context of Holmes’ academic work as a whole and we raise a few questions about the future and history of the discipline.