Comparative literature in the context of "St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)"

Translation studies is an academic interdiscipline dealing with the systematic study of the theory, description and application of translation, interpreting, and localization. As an interdiscipline, translation studies borrows much from the various fields of study that support translation. These include comparative literature, computer science, history, linguistics, philology, philosophy, semiotics, and terminology.

The term “translation studies” was coined by the Amsterdam-based American scholar James S. Holmes in his 1972 paper “The name and nature of translation studies”, which is considered a foundational statement for the discipline. Writers in English occasionally use the term "translatology" (and less commonly "traductology") to refer to translation studies, and the corresponding French term for the discipline is usually traductologie (as in the Société Française de Traductologie). In the United States, there is a preference for the term "translation and interpreting studies" (as in the American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association), although European tradition includes interpreting within translation studies (as in the European Society for Translation Studies).

The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "strengthen the study and teaching of language and literature". The organization includes over 20,000 members in 100 countries, primarily academic scholars, professors, and graduate students who study or teach language and literature, including English, other modern languages, and comparative literature. Although founded in the United States, with offices in New York City, the MLA's membership, concerns, reputation, and influence are international in scope.

Robert Fagles (/ˈfeɪɡəlz/; September 11, 1933 – March 26, 2008) was an American translator, poet, and academic. He was best known for his many translations of ancient Greek and Roman classics, especially his acclaimed translations of the epic poems of Homer. He taught English and comparative literature for many years at Princeton University.

David Damrosch (born 13 April 1953) is an American literary historian, author, and scholar of comparative and world literature, and is the Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University. He is the author of nine books and editor or co-editor of two dozen collections, and is best known for his book What is World Literature? (2003), in which he defines world literature not as a set canon of texts but as “a mode of reading”, highlighting ways in which texts get circulated and translated. His further publications on this topic include How to Read World Literature? (2009), Comparing the Literatures (2020), and Around the World in 80 Books (2021). Among the collections Damrosch co-edited are the six-volume Longman anthologies of British Literature and World Literature. He is a co-editor in chief of the Journal of World Literature. His edition and translation of a francophone Congolese novel, Georges Ngal’s Giambatista Viko; or, The Rape of African Discourse, came out in 2022.

Damrosch is a past president of the American Comparative Literature Association (2001-2003) and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of Academia Europaea. In 2023 he was awarded the Balzan Prize for his work on world literature. He gave the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at the University of Utah in 2025.