This article is the prologue to the edited volume Vertalen historisch bezien: tekst, metatekst, theorie. As the contributions in this volume reflect the sort of questions asked in Translation Studies, the reader can testify to the emancipation of the field. The perspective of Translation Studies has moved from that of a merely linguistic and philological, normative sub-discipline, founded on the utopian belief in equivalence to that of a moderately institutionalised discipline. The latter does not mean that this young discipline can or wants to delineate its object; it is still developing into different, often opposing directions. The most important aspects that this volume touches upon are the following: 1. Regarding the historical and empirical studies, there is the recognition that the present insight in translation history is limited, combined with the need to refine the methodological apparatus.2. As for the theoretical framework, the move to more descriptive, (poly)-systematic research has resulted in more historical descriptive, feminist, post-structuralist studies, stressing the importance of the ‘other’.