Exercising agency: A Bourdieusian account of Iranian feminist translators
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2-2022
Abstract
In spite of the challenges imposed on practices of feminist cultural production in restrictive states, feminist activists have contributed to speaking about the needs of women through their writings and translations. While earlier studies have highlighted the role of translators in communicating external feminist ideas, factors that have contributed to their agency remain unexplored. The present study, framed by Bourdieu's theory, is an attempt to address this gap by locating the social, cultural, and economic capital of Iranian feminist translators within the conservative publication context of Iran. In doing so, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 Iranian translators of feminist works. Our findings show that despite the regulatory measures imposed on cultural production, translators have managed to compete against the doxa of the publishing sphere and produce heterodoxa by publishing translations of secular feminist works.
Keywords
Iran, Bourdieu, Feminist publication, Habitus, Capital, Feminist translators
Divisions
FLL
Funders
None
Publication Title
Asian Journal of Womens Studies
Volume
28
Issue
1
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publisher Location
2-4 PARK SQUARE, MILTON PARK, ABINGDON OR14 4RN, OXON, ENGLAND