Bourdieu and Literature Conference
Saturday 16 May 2009
With generous support from the Humanities Research Centre, Warwick University French Department
and the Society for French Studies, this event organised by John Speller (Warwick) brought together
internationally renowned scholars Prof. Grenfell (Trinity), Dr. Lane (Nottingham), Prof. Lazarus
(Warwick) and Prof. Boschetti (Ca’Foscari), around the theme of Pierre Bourdieu’s work on literature.
Delegates were attracted from across the country, and from as far afield as Ireland and Spain. Prof.
Grenfell began with an outline of Bourdieu’s theory and practice of literature analysis, also situating
Bourdieu’s work on language and literature within his wider œuvre. Dr. Lane sparked a heated
discussion with his Derrida-tinged critique of Bourdieu’s study of Flaubert and the French literary field
in the nineteenth century. Prof. Lazarus’ paper discussed Fredric Jameson’s recent polemic against
Bourdieu. Prof. Boschetti gave a well-received paper on recent attempts to take Bourdieu’s theory of
literary fields to the transnational level, also providing a valuable overview and bibliography of
Bourdieusian studies of literature on the continent. There are plans to publish an edited collection of
the papers in 2010. Overall, the Bourdieu and Literature Conference was a great success, which
showcased Warwick University and Warwick French department as international centres of research
and excellence, and which provided a platform for lively debate and intellectual exchange across
disciplines and between research specialisms.
John Speller, Department of French Studies, HRC Doctoral Fellow