James Stratton Holmes

James Stratton Holmes (2 May 1924 – 6 November 1986) adalah seorang sastrawan berkebangsaan Amerika-Belanda yang bekerja sebagai seorang penyair, penerjemah, dan seorang sarjana penerjemahan. Terkadang ia mempublikasikan hasil karyanya menggunakan nama aslinya, yakni James S. Holmes, dan di lain waktu ia juga menggunakan nama penanya, Jim Holmes dan Jacob Lowland. Pada tahun 1956, ia adalah seorang penerjemah non-Belanda pertama yang berhasil menerima penghargaan bergengsi Martinus Nijhoff Award, yakni sebuah penghargaan penting yang diberikan kepada para penerjemah teks-teks kreatif dari atau ke dalam bahasa Belanda.

Masa Kecil dan Latar Belakang Pendidikan

Sebagai bungsu dari 4 orang bersaudara, Homes lahir dan dibesarkan di sebuah peternakan kecil Amerika yang terletak di wilayah Collins, Iowa. Pada tahun 1941 setelah menyelesaikan masa SMAnya, ia melanjutkan pendidikan ke Quaker College of Oskaloosa, Iowa. Setelah menempuh pendidikan selama dua tahun, ia kemudian melakukan magang dengan mengajar di sebuah SMP di wilayah Barnesville, Ohio. Beberapa tahun kemudian, setelah ia menolak untuk melakukan dinas militer di Angkatan Darat atau menjadi seorang pegawai negeri sipil, Holmes dijatuhi hukuman penjara selama 6 bulan. Setelah dibebaskan, ia kembali melanjutkan pendidikannya, yang pertama di Sekolah Tinggi William Penn, kemudian di Sekolah Tinggi Haverford di Pennsylvania.

Pada tahun 1948 setelah mendapatkan kedua gelarnya, yakni dalam bidang bahasa Inggris dan sejarah, ia kembali melanjutkan pendidikannya di Universitas Brown di Providence, Rhode Island, salah satu dari sekolah terkenal Ivy League Schools dimana pada tahun berikutnya ia menjadi seorang doktor peneliti. Pada saat itu, ia telah menulis dan menerbitkan puisi pertamanya serta sesekali melakukan pengerjaan editorial. Sejak itu, puisi kemudian menjadi minat terbesarnya.

Tahun 1949: Belanda

In 1949 Holmes interrupted his studies to work as a Fulbright exchange teacher in a Quaker school in the Eerde Castle, near Ommen, in the Netherlands. At the end of the school year he decided not to return to the United States, but to stay and visit the country. It was in this way that, in 1950, he met Hans van Marle. To Holmes, the relationship with Van Marle soon became something highly important that brought him to making the choice never to go back to the United States, and to move permanently to Amsterdam. For the next two years, Holmes attended Nico Donkersloot's Dutch language course at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, and published in 1951 his first poetry translation.

1952: Minat Menjadi Profesi

Translating poetry became Holmes' main occupation, and, after his appointment as an associate professor in the Literary Science faculty at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, translation was his main source of income. Together with his partner Hans van Marle, he translated not only poetry, but also documents about Indonesia and Indonesian poetry in English. His reputation as a translator grew, and in 1956 he was granted the Martinus Nijhoff Award for his translations into English, becoming the first foreigner to receive it. In 1958, when the legendary English magazine Delta was founded, exclusively devoted to the culture of the Netherlands and Belgium, James Holmes became its poetry editor and often took care of the translations of contemporary Dutch poetry in English. It was a time in which Holmes particularly devoted himself to the poetry of the "Vijftigers" [an important group of Dutch poets of the 50s – 'vijftig' in Dutch] and of the "post-Vijftigers", poetry of complex comprehension, and therefore, hard to translate.

Pendidikan Terjemahan

When the Literary Science faculty of the Universiteit van Amsterdam decided in 1964 to create a Department of Translation Studies, Holmes was invited to contribute as an associate professor. He not only had the needed scholarly background, but over time he had acquired many theoretical notions as well, as well as considerable practical experience as a translator. He created courses for the Institute of Interpreters and Translators, which was later integrated into the Institute of Translation Studies of the Universiteit van Amsterdam. Holmes' paper "The Name and Nature of Translation Studies" (1972) is widely recognized as founding Translation Studies as a coordinated research program. Holmes' many articles on translation made him one of the key members of Descriptive Translation Studies, and still today he is frequently cited in the bibliographies in this field.

Apresiasi untuk "Awater" oleh Nijhoff dan Penghargaan Nobel

One of the most extraordinary examples of Holmes' bravery was his translation of the very long poetic piece "Awater [nl]" by Martinus Nijhoff, a work that gained attention both in the Netherlands and abroad. The English translation of this piece contributed to the fame of both the poet and the translator. After having read "Awater," Nobel laureates in Literature T.S. Eliot and Iosif Aleksandrovič Brodskij expressed their appreciation. Eliot said that if Nijhoff had written his works in English instead of Dutch, he would have become a global success, while Brodskij bluntly stated that "Awater" was one of the most beautiful poetry works he had ever read.