Book Review of Vorderobermeier (2014) Remapping habitus in translation studies

In the last two decades, the idea that translating and interpreting could be analysed in terms of social practice has gained ground among many Translation Studies scholars and researchers (for example Inghilleri, 2005; Simeoni, 1998; Wolf, 2007). They emphasise the relevance of adopting Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of habitus to better understand how translators and interpreters shape and are shaped by their everyday practice, background (or trajectory), and social and work context (or field). It is true that shifting from a purely comparative textual analysis (e.g. source versus target text) to an overarching investigation of the translation practice can certainly improve our understanding of how all the agents involved (the translator or interpreter, client(s), commissioner(s), etc.) contribute to and/or influence the translation process (Chesterman, 2006). However, Bourdieu’s concept of habitus has received much criti- cism regarding its validity as an analytical tool in different disciplines (c.f. Vererobermeier’s introduction to this volume, p. 15, and her contribution, pp. 151–152). It is therefore not sur- prising to note in the very title, Remapping Habitus in Translation Studies, the attempt by the editor and the other contributors to reassess the concept itself from a theoretical point of view and to verify its methodological validity by applying it to the investigation of selected case studies.