This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings

ProZ/TV Spotlight: International Translation Day Preview 2023

As we gear up for this year's International Translation Day, we're excited to offer a special preview series by broadcasting some of the standout presentations from last year's ProZ.com TV event!

Tune in to our broadcast sessions to revisit some of the most insightful and impactful moments from last year. Remember, these are recordings from the previous event, so there won’t be a live Q&A, but we’ll be sharing a sneak peek of what’s in store for this year’s event—stay tuned until the end to catch it!

Register now for this year’s ProZ/TV International Translation Day 2024 – a three-day event filled with live presentations, Q&A sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities.

Register now»

Druckluftaufbereitung
Urhafer
Apr 19, 2009 11:58
15 yrs ago
German term

das Abgründige

German to English Art/Literary Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
From the same text as a few days ago.
”Wie entsteht die Welt? Welches sind mögliche Ansätze, um ein Bild von ihr zu vermitteln? Oder noch besser: Wie lässt sich dieses geheime Wissen, das in jedem schlummert, jedoch fest vergraben ist, bruchstückhaft erinnern? Dies sind Fragen, die – so meine These, den Künstler in seinem Schaffen immer bewegt haben und ihn in seinen jüngeren Werken, so auch in „Noses & Ears Etc.“ verstärkt umtreiben.

Woran mache ich nun diese Brüchigkeit und **das Abgründige** fest? Der Besucher der Ausstellung erfreut sich zunächst an der fröhlichen bunten Farbenwelt, die auf glamourös wirkende schwarz-weiß Fotografie buchstäblich zu liegen kommt und an zahlreiche Filme erinnert, ohne eine klare Zuordnung zu erlauben. "
My translation so far:
"What prompts me to ascribe brittleness and "das Abgründige"...."
Proposed translations (English)
2 +1 hidden knowledge
4 Myth
References
Brainstorm

Discussion

Helen Shiner Apr 20, 2009:
Re: Gert's point - i.e. series, if limited just to a series of work, or his complete oeuvre, if his whole body of work.
Gert Sass (M.A.) Apr 20, 2009:
Not a "composition" @Leander 1: As to your current translation, it should be noted that Baldessari’s “Noses & Ears, Etc.” does not represent a “composition” (in fine arts, this term denotes something different anyway) or singular work, but a multitude of works grouped together to form what might be called e. g. a series, sequence, or similar. Baldessari himself calls them “Part(s)” and ascribes numbers to them, such as “Noses & Ears, Etc., Part IV”. For example, see http://www.artnet.com/galleries/Exhibitions.asp?gid=117613&c...
Stephen Reader Apr 19, 2009:
Goodwill still and foundering subjects/objects I've no problem with prompt etc. - paraphrase might be "What do I see in these works that prompts me to ascribe to them / to the artist a preoccupation with such arcane and unfathomable questions as Whence the world and how do I capture the oh so elusive answers latent in the depths of human intuition..." - or am I still missing something?
Taking on board the previous qn on this passage, possibly I'm confusing etwas festMACHEN an etwas with etwas festSTELLEN an (= aufgrund) etwas - don't they overlap? (Woran stelle/mache ich etwas fest). I take the liberty of 'importing' the last qn into this as I wasn't able to open the Discuss area there, and it is the same passage.
Helen Shiner Apr 19, 2009:
Lonnie It certainly does seem strange to me, too, that that first sentence of the last paragraph does not belong to the previous one. I think the placement really affects our reading of who is speaking.
Lonnie Legg Apr 19, 2009:
Omission? Have you omitted sth. between "...umtreiben." and "Woran..."?
Helen Shiner Apr 19, 2009:
Ok that would make more sense, but I do think that there is a confusion about who is speaking. I still read it as reported speech of a kind, but I have said that elsewhere, so I won't persist. By the way, the Abgründige I would see as the deep, dark side of any human, rather than the literal abyssmal.
Leander1 (asker) Apr 19, 2009:
Reply to discussion entry My translation goes on .."What prompts me to ascribe brittleness and **das Abgründige** to this composition?
Leander1 (asker) Apr 19, 2009:
Reply to discussion enry My translation goes on .."What prompts me to ascribe brittleness and **das Abgründige** to this composition?
Helen Shiner Apr 19, 2009:
I'm sorry but what does 'prompt me to ascribe' mean here? English requires you to say what you are ascribing to what, in any case? I don't agree with your translation and it seems to be taking the meaning off in the wrong direction. I say this in the spirit of goodwill with the intention of assisting.

Proposed translations

+1
10 hrs
Selected

hidden knowledge

If I understand this correctly, the author is referring to the knowledge that is hidden beyond the conscious thought.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 hrs (2009-04-19 22:41:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or maybe:

hidden depth of knowledge
knowledge beyond conscious comprehension
Peer comment(s):
agree Harald Moelzer (medical-translator) : as the original text says earlier: "...dieses geheime Wissen, das in jedem schlummert..."
2 days 7 hrs
Thanks, Harald!
Something went wrong...
2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I received so many comments etc. that I cannot really mark them properly. The discussion was most interesting and helpful, and I do thank you all very much."
45 mins

Myth

abgründig Adj. bes. fig. (rätselhaft) mysterious; Geheimnis: unfathomable; Humor etc.: cryptic
© Langenscheidt KG, Berlin und München
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

1 hr
Reference:

Brainstorm

Wie lässt sich dieses geheime Wissen, das in jedem schlummert, jedoch fest vergraben ist, bruchstückhaft erinnern?
Carl Jung's collective unconscious, genetic, ancestral memory

Wie lässt sich dieses geheime Wissen ...bruchstückhaft erinnern?
Woran mache ich nun diese Brüchigkeit und das Abgründige fest?

Muret-Sanders
Abgründig – unfathomable, inscrutable
(zerklüftet) – abysmal, precipitous
immeasurably, immensely,

bruchstückhaft Brüchigkeit fragmentary

How do I capture this fragmentary and unfathomable knowledge?
Festmachen – make s.th. concrete, capture
Peer comments on this reference comment:
agree Helen Shiner : I like unfathomable - and lo! You read festmachen as I do - see Asker's previous question, but there are several voices against that interpretation!
18 mins
agree franglish : excellent!
2 hrs
agree Bernhard Sulzer : with fragmentary and unfathomable kn.; He plunged into the unfathomable depths of the psyche, and sought to kindle a flame of illumination that would reveal the mystery and purpose of human existence: http://www.twilighttimesbooks.com/GoldenAge_ch1.html
3 hrs
agree Stephen Reader : Yesyes. And another ingredient to the pot for "geheim": arcane...
7 hrs
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search