week 3b

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JAMES S. HOLMES IN TRANSLATION STUDIES

The translation act –and attempts to establish a theoretical background for the translation act– date back to the times of Cicero and Horace. Since those times, translation has been regarded as a profession more than a discipline on its own. Up to the twentieth century, translation has been treated as a sub-discipline of (applied) linguistics, literary studies, and so forth. However, in the second half of the twentieth century, fruitful efforts concerning the theoretical aspect of translation have been made among scholars (i.e. J. C. Catford, Eugene A. Nida, Roman Jakobson), and as a consequence, these endeavors have changed the traditional point of view regarding the very word translation. Furthermore, these productive works –by igniting discussions regarding the nature of translation– have played a vital role in creating an independent discipline of translation. It was at this point of time that translation merged with the word studies.

The development and birth of “Translation Studies” as an autonomous discipline can be traced in the 1970s. In his remarkable article entitled “The Name and Nature of Translation Studies”, written in 1972, translation scholar James S. Holmes pursues and discusses the distinctive term for the emerging discipline in modern languages, such as English, German, French, and even in Greek. Consequently, he proposes the word “studies” since the word mentioned can comprise all fields of learning, and supports his argument by showing solid examples of disciplines, that is to say, Russian studies, American studies, Commonwealth studies, and population studies. (cf. Holmes 1988: 70) In this respect, Holmes’ article can be described as a yardstick in the transition period from “translation” to “Translation Studies.”

In addition to founding the appropriate name for the new discipline, Holmes divides the field which he introduced into two significant areas: pure translation studies and applied translation studies. Within the realm of pure translation studies two subdivisions can be observed: descriptive translation studies (DTS) [comprising product-oriented DTS, process-oriented DTS, and function-oriented DTS] and translation theory (also subdivided as general translation theory and partial translation theory.) Within the scope of applied translation studies, Holmes is concerned with the issues of translation policy, translator training, and translation criticism. What is more, during the course of the article, Holmes not only describes divisions and subdivisions of Translation Studies, but also concludes each topic by pointing out possible new research areas. Finally, in the last part of the article, Holmes sets forth that the relationship between theoretical, descriptive, and applied translation studies is dialectical and unites all the branches mentioned above. Furthermore, in his study Holmes stresses out the socio-cultural dimension of translation (which has often been neglected by the most of the scholars before.) Holmes’ concluding sentence: “Let the meta-discussion begin” (Holmes 1988: 79) signifies an initial attempt to establish the necessary theoretical background for Translation Studies.

With Holmes’ distinctive approach towards translation and Translation Studies, the translator, who has often been shrouded by the source text author/culture, has found the opportunity to gain the identity as an expert s/he deserved long ago. Additionally, translation act, and logically translators have broken free (as much as they can) from the eternal bonds between themselves and the source language/culture/author. Also, it has been realized and accepted that a “good” and a “true” translation cannot only depend on the source language, culture, or author. Moreover, by taking Holmes’ study as a starting point, other scholars have focused on the target language/culture and developed beneficial theories regarding Translation Studies. German scholar Hans J. Vermeer, for instance, takes the translator as an “expert” in his/her field for granted and establishes part of his prolific Skopos Theory mainly on that assumption (cf. Vermeer 1989: 174).

All aspects considered, Holmes and his studies concerning Translation Studies have played a major role in the discipline’s emergence and prosperity. In the light of said author, translator and translation have been awarded more attention in the academic field and the discipline started to be regarded as an autonomous one.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Holmes, James S.: “The Name and Nature of Translation Studies”, Translated!: Papers on Literary Translation and Translation Studies (1972), Amsterdam/Rodopi, 1988, pp. 66-80.

Vermeer, Hans J.: “Skopos and Commission in Translational Action”, Readings in Translation Theory, (ed.) Andrew Chestermann, Oy Finn Lectura Ab, 1989, pp.173-200.