A Bourdieusian Analysis of the Translator’s Strategic Decisions in Senkottan
Abstract
The study addresses a significant lacuna in translation studies by applying Bourdieu’s sociological framework, specifically the concept of field, habitus and capital, to the underexplored field of Sri Lankan literary translation. While Bourdieusian analysis has been influential, its application remains predominantly centred on Western and dominant language literary fields. Guided by Bourdieu’s sociology, the present study explores the translator’s strategic agency in Malinda Seneviratne’s English translation of Masimbula’s best-selling Sinhala novel, Senkottan. The study addresses two research questions: (1) What strategic decisions does the translator employ when rendering the text from Sinhala to English? (2) How do the translator’s capital, habitus and field influence their strategic decisions in the translation? Using a qualitative methodological approach, the study offers a comparative-textual analysis of the Sinhala novel and its English translation, which is informed by information obtained from a semi-structured interview with the translator. The research identifies two main strategic decisions: 1) use of Sri Lankan English and 2) para-textual elements, while demonstrating how Seneviratne’s capital accumulated through his career as a poet and a translator, legitimises his strategic choices. Seneviratne’s habitus, shaped by bilingual upbringing and ideological stance, directly influenced his selection of source text. The findings reveal that, within the peripheral Sri Lankan literary field, translators can employ local capital to resist the assimilative pressure of global literary markets. By extending the sociological lenses of Bourdieu's theory into non-Western South-Asian contexts, the study contributes to translation studies by highlighting the translation practices emerging from multilingual peripheral literary fields.
Keywords: Bourdieu’s Sociology; Senkottan; Translator’s Strategy; Malinda Seneviratne; Sri Lankan English
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Baker, M. (2006). Translation and conflict: A narrative account. Routledge.
Bassnett, S., & Lefevere, A. (1998). Constructing cultures: Essays on literary translation. Multilingual Matters.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.). Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education. (pp. 241-258). Greenwood Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1993). The field of cultural production: Essays on art and literature. Columbia University Press
Bourdieu, P. (1993). Sociology in question. Sage Publications.
Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology. University of Chicago Press.
British Educational Research Association. (2018). Ethical guidelines for educational research (4th ed.). Retrieved June 11, 2025, from https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/ethical-guidelines-for-educational-research-2018
Chandrasiri, S. (2022). Use of Sri Lankan English to preserve originality in the translation of Madol Doova. Sri Lankan Journal of Linguistics, 3(1), 25–40.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357889628_Use_of_Sri_Lankan_English_to_Preserve_Originality_in_the_Translation_of_'Madol_Doova
Chesterman, A. (1997). Memes of translation: The spread of ideas in translation theory. John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.22
Freeman, R., & Seneviratne, M. (2013). An introduction to Sri Lankan literature. Words Without Borders. Retrieved July 11, 2025, from https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2013-06/an-introduction-to-sri-lankan-
literature/Words Without Borders+3
Gamage, U., & Makangila, S. (2020). The translator’s visibility in domestication and the Sinhala translation of The Village in the Jungle. Journal for the Study of English Linguistics, 8(1), 60–75.
https://doi.org/10.5296/jsel.v8i1.16280
Genette, G. (1991). Paratexts: Thresholds of interpretation (J. E. Lewin, Trans.). Cambridge University Press.
Gouanvic, J. M. (1997). Translation and the Shape of Things to Come. The Translator, 3(2), 125-152.
Gouanvic, J.-M. (2005). A Bourdieusian theory of translation, or the coincidence of practical instances: Field, habitus, capital, and illusio. The Translator, 11(2), 147–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2005.10799196
Gunasekera, M. (2005). The postcolonial identity of Sri Lankan English. Katha Publishers.
Holmes, J. (2000). The name and nature of translation studies. In L.Venuti (Ed.). The translation studies reader (pp. 172- 185). Routledge.
Inghilleri, M. (2005). The sociology of Bourdieu and the construction of the ‘object’ in translation and interpreting studies. The Translator, 11(2), 125–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2005.10799195
Innes, C. L. (2000). Edward Said and the post-colonial world: Critical reflections. Routledge.
Merkle, D. (2008). Translation constraints and the “sociological turn” in literary translation studies. In A. Pym, M. Shlesinger and D. Simeoni (Eds.). Beyond descriptive translation studies (pp. 175-186). John Benjamins.
Munday, J. (2001). Introducing translation studies: Theories and applications (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Muwafi, D. (2021). Translation as a social activity: Towards a Bourdieusian understanding of Pickthall’s translation of the Quran. International Journal of Arabic-English Studies, 21(2), 65–84.
https://doi.org/10.33806/ijaes2000.21.2.4
Nagodawithana, H. (2017). Translation: An interplay between two languages and cultures. Godage International Publishers.
Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation. Prentice Hall.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
Peng, D., & Abdul Rahman, W. R. E. (2025). The translator’s voice and visibility in Chinese sci-tech classics: A case study of the English translation of Chajing. 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature®, – The Southeast Asian Journal
of English Language Studies, 31(4), 345–360. https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2025-3104-22
Ranasinha, R. (2016). Sri Lankan fiction in English 1994–2014. In A. Guttman & J. Robson (Eds.), The global literary field (pp. 79–100). Palgrave Macmillan.
Rutherford, M. B., Levitt, P., & Zhang, E. (2024). Whence the 3 percent? How far have we come toward decentering America’s literary preference?. Global Perspectives, 5(1), 93034. https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2024.93034
Seneviratne, R. (2021, March 25). Translation of Sri Lankan literature: The strength of the original text. The morning. Retrieved July 11, 2025, from https://www.themorning.lk/articles/161492
Shamma, T. (2009). Translation and the manipulation of difference: Arabic literature in nineteenth-century England. St. Jerome Publishing.
Simeoni, D. (1998). The pivotal status of the translator’s habitus. Target, 10 (1) :1-39.
Snell-Hornby, M. (2006). The turns of translation studies: New paradigms or shifting viewpoints? John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Toury, G. (1995). Descriptive translation studies and beyond. John Benjamins.
Tymoczko, M. (2007). Enlarging translation, empowering translators. St. Jerome.
UNESCO. (2019). IndexTranslationum:Statistics. Retrieved June 15, 2025, from https://www.unesco.org/xtrans/bsstatexp.aspx
University of Rochester. (2018). Recent statistics on translations in the U.S. book market. Retrieved June 8, 2025, from https://www.rochester.edu/translation-statistics
Venuti, L. (1995). The translator’s invisibility: A history of translation. Routledge.
Vinay, J.-P., & Darbelnet, J. (1995). Comparative stylistics of French and English: A methodology for translation (J. C. Sager & M.-J. Hamel, Trans.). John Benjamins. (Original work published 1958)
Wolf, M., & Fukari, A. (Eds.). (2006). Translation and identity. St. Jerome.
Wolf, M., & Fukari, A. (Eds.). (2007). Constructing a sociology of translation. John Benjamins.
Xu, M. (2012). On scholar translators in literary translation – A case study of Kinkley’s translation of Biancheng. Perspectives, 20(2), 151–163. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2011.554610
Yeğenoğlu, M. (2003). Translation, gender and the politics of culture. In S. Simon & P. St-Pierre (Eds.), Changing the terms: Translating in the postcolonial era (pp. 60–73). University of Ottawa Press.
Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
eISSN : 2550-2247
ISSN : 0128-5157