Revisiting Patronage From The Perspective Of Symbolic Capital

The paper draws upon Andre Lefevere's theory of patronage as a main source of theorization. Since previous studies have not given due attention to the interplay between patronage, ideology and poetics, and interaction between patronage and the other participants involved, the present author imports Bourdieu's sociological concepts to address these issues by working out a theoretical framework of patronage from the perspective of symbolic capital. It scrutinizes how the patron acquires symbolic capital from various sources to establish legitimacy of ideology and recognition of poetics in translation. This is illustrated by a case study of Yilin's patronage of translated popular fiction in the 1980's, which is supposed to provide a prism to visualize the larger picture of patronage and translational issues during that particular period.Ideologically, the patron accumulates symbolic capital through conversion from three types of capital reflected in various sources. The first type is the social capital that the patron obtains through its networks with translators, experts and readers. It comprises readers' letters, translator's notes, and experts' reviews that speak approvingly for the legitimacy of the ideology. The second type is economic capital which resides in ST authors' reputation, certain source countries, and text-types that promise better chance of commercial success but that at the same time correspond to the dominant ideology. The third type is the cultural capital acquired through the patron's connections with institutional establishments. It is reflected in remarks by members from these institutions and in translations that make their way into universities as textbooks. Poetically, symbolic capital is enhanced in patronage through conversion from social capital that the patron gets by way of contacts with translators, experts and readers. It is reflected in readers' letters or experts' reviews that consist of remarks echoing the dominant poetics.