Bourdieu and Literature

At the time of his death in 2002, Bourdieu was a contender for the position of France’s foremost intellectual, and the most cited sociologist in the world (Social Science Citation Index, ISI). Chair in sociology at the Collège de France from 1981, he wrote on a wide range of topics, from Kabyle society to French cultural tastes, and from the housing market to fine art. Translated into some forty languages, his works have become standard points of reference in the fields of anthropology, linguistics, art history, cultural studies, politics, sociology, and others. Interest in Bourdieu’s work on literature is growing rapidly, with researchers applying his concepts and theories to the literary traditions of China and South Africa, Europe and America, and extending them to the transnational level of ‘world literary space’. This site is not official. It is intended as a resource for researchers, writers and others interested in Bourdieu's work on literature.

Associated Publications

Bourdieu and Literature

Author: John Speller

Bourdieu and Literature is a wide-ranging, rigorous and accessible introduction to the relationship between Pierre Bourdieu's work and literary studies. It provides a comprehensive overview and critical assessment of his contributions to literary theory and his thinking about authors and literary works.

Purchase printed or digital version at http://www.openbookpublishers.com

Forthcoming March 2012

Pierre Bourdieu and the Literary Field

Paragraph Volume 35, Number 1

Edited by: Jeremy Ahearne and John Speller

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.

To cite this site: John Speller, Bourdieu and Literature, http://bourdieuandliterature.com/ [accessed...]

This site is under construction: content is added, updated, and amended frequently.