In this article, the author gives an overview of what could be sociology of translation, inspired by the theories of Pierre Bourdieu. The author states that Bourdieu is one of the few sociologists whose theories take into account the symbolic productions (arts and letters), without reducing them to mere consumption goods and without succumbing to finalism or mechanical functionalism. The author discusses, among other issues, the American canonical literature in the French cultural space after 1945, the translation of American science fiction and the emergence of a French SF field in the 1950s.