This paper presents the results of an empirical study of literary perception in the translation process. Four translators have been asked to record their comments while translating selected passages of a Hungarian literary text into French. The notion of “pre-translation” is defined as a transcription of think-aloud protocols, and their subsequent translations. In order to discover marks of literary perception and its apprehension, this corpus has been analyzed using four criteria: semantic, formal, and narrative devices, and preferences in translation strategies. The results show that the specificity of literary translation is expressed in all the criteria. Although one cannot generalize, due to the limited number of examples in the research project and the influence of social variables, the results highlight the wide range of sensitivity to literariness expressed by the translator. For example, the working strategies of some translators are more oriented towards rhythm, while others prefer working on the lexical and connotative aspect.