Bourdieu and the Literary Field

Pierre Bourdieu and the Literary Field brings together leading specialists from across disciplines and national borders to reflect on the contribution of one of the twentieth century's pre-eminent sociologists to literary studies, and brings us up to date with developments in his wake. The authors examine and present Bourdieu's theory of the literary field, the mediations that occur between 'literature' and 'society', its re-applications to the field of Chinese literature and its extension to 'world literary space'. They also explore Bourdieu's approach to literature 'in practice', which sometimes deviates from his stringent methodological prescriptions -- shedding new light not only on Bourdieu's work on literature, but also on his sociology more generally. This book is of particular interest to researchers and students in the fields of literary studies, cultural studies and sociology. Key features of this book include: *An introduction to and critical assessment of Bourdieu's theory of the literary field. *A summary of the latest theoretical developments in 'Bourdieusian' research on literature. *A study and appraisal of Bourdieu's approach to literature 'in practice', including to writings by Flaubert, Faulkner and Pascal. *The first translation in English of Bourdieu's commentary on 'Automne malade' by Guillaume Apollinaire, with accompanying analysis.