Objectivation, réflexivité et traduction: Pour une re-lecture bourdieusienne de la traduction

In translation studies, the major contribution of Bourdieu’s theory resides, in my view, in the elaboration of the notions field, habitus, and illusio, in the definition of the symbolic capital and in its application to artistic products. In this paper, I will discuss how the notions of habitus and field can be applied to translation by analysing the habitus of three agents operating in the translation of US literature in France. Illusio, on the other hand, can be associated with texts classified in genres and types. Each genre is endowed with an illusio which conditions the taste of the reading public and makes the readers adhere to the game expressed in the texts. These reflections will be completed by associating them with the principle of “double reflexivity”: first, the translation studies scholar analyses the translated texts and examines their determinations, second he/she makes an analysis on his/her translation studies position as a scholar and on what is at stake in his/her research field.