This article discusses the recent developments in the field of translation studies. First the background is sketched against which more recent developments need to be understood. Second, an overview is given of the traditional views on translation. In this part, the notion of equivalence is discussed and viewed against the recent criticism of its concept; then equivalence is discussed in relation to its role in specialized texts. Next, the approach of the Manipulation School, based on the concept of the literary polysystem, is described. The third part views translation as an interdisciplinary study and broaches the following topics: language and culture and specific language translation. The fourth section is devoted to Prototype and Gestalt, and the fifth to the Skopos theory.