Research on translation review in China from the perspective of Bourdieu’s Sociology

Translation review, as book review on translated works, aims to introduce, recommend and review translated works. In China, while great achievements were made in translation criticism since the 1990s, translation review was quantitatively understudied in translation studies, though it is, as a social practice, more practical and enjoys wider readership. Based on Bourdieu’s sociological theory of practice, namely, field, capital and habitus, this paper examines translation reviews in China Reading Weekly from 2010 to 2014 and argues that China fails to establish a translation field of its own, and translation review in China is subject to the multiple influences of the economic and cultural capital of the country, the symbolic capital of translators and reviewers, and the cultural capital and habitus of reviewers. The paper also puts forward some suggestions for the development of translation review in the future.