Remapping Habitus in Translation Studies

Book excerpt: The publication deliberately concentrates on the reception and application of one concept highly influential in the sociology of translation and interpreting, namely habitus. By critically engaging with this Bourdieusian concept, it aspires to re-estimate not only interdisciplinary interfaces but also those with different approaches in the discipline itself. The authors of the contributions collected in this volume, by engaging with the habitus concept, lend expression to the conviction that it is indeed “a concept which upsets”, i.e. one with the potential to make a difference to research agendas. They are cutting across diverse traditions of Bourdieu reception within and beyond the discipline, each paper being based on unique research experiences. We do hope that this volume can help to find and maintain the delicate balance between consolidating an area of research by insisting on methodological rigour as well as on the sine-qua-non of a given body of thought on the one hand and being critically inventive on the other.