May 30, 2010 19:21
14 yrs ago
French term

univers grillagé

French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
"Pour XXX (a Romanian artist) qui a vécu les quarante premières années de sa vie dans un univers grillagé - le gris est aussi une couleur bien particulière."

Discussion

Chris Hall May 31, 2010:
Latticed universe... what does that mean? Please feel free to post it as an answer.
edithbloom May 31, 2010:
Direct Translation latticed universe
kashew (asker) May 30, 2010:
Context: Romania under Chaucescu - and it's atmosphere and buildings, by deduction.
Chris Hall May 30, 2010:
Doesn't the whole sentence... provided by the Asker count as context?
Desdemone (X) May 30, 2010:
Impossible to say without context - and surely you have context?

Proposed translations

+4
35 mins
Selected

fenced-in world

I think this is one of those places where 'world' is more natural in EN for 'univers' in FR — cf. titles like « L'univers de la porcelaine » > "The World of Porcelain"

And the idea of 'grillage' is so specific, and an image so inextricably associated with the old totalitarian regimes etc., I think it would be a pity to water that down.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2010-05-30 22:50:10 GMT)
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Good point, I hadn't spotted that...
Note from asker:
Wordplay? There's gris in grillage - or am I going mad with all these colours? You are right - no watering down, rather watering up!
Peer comment(s):

agree Travelin Ann
5 mins
Thanks, Ann!
agree Emma Paulay
12 mins
Thanks, Emma!
agree Chris Hall
48 mins
Thanks, Chris!
agree Alison Sabedoria (X)
11 hrs
Thanks, W/A!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks a lot."
9 mins

enclosed universe

Pour XXX (a Romanian artist) qui a vécu les quarante premières années de sa vie dans un univers grillagé - le gris est aussi une couleur bien particulière.
=
For XXX (a Romanian artist) who has lived the first forty years of his/her life in an enclosed universe - grey is also a very particular/specific colour.
Something went wrong...
51 mins

behind the iron curtain/boxed in/hemmed in/cloistered

several ideas and there more.
Something went wrong...
+3
1 hr

(a world) behind wire

evokes all kinds of internment/imprisonment/incarceration/curtailed freedom...

or you could go for something more mundane (and less metaphorical) like "a life of internment"

his first forty years were spent confined to a life of imprisonnment (or whatever...)...
Note from asker:
And there are bits of wire in his sculpture, you clever one!
Peer comment(s):

agree Chris Hall
7 mins
many thanks Chris! I have to confess that I had no idea though that the sculpture featured bits of wire
agree Alison Sabedoria (X) : Clairvoyant translating; I like it - could outrun MT/CAT any day!
11 hrs
many thanks Wordeffect! Oh dear, yes, wouldn't that be good!
agree mimi 254
12 hrs
many thanks mimi!
Something went wrong...
1 hr

behind barbed wire

nuance

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Note added at 1 hr (2010-05-30 20:54:20 GMT)
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or a barbed wire fence
Something went wrong...
1 hr

fenced-off world

Conveys the idea of isolation from the rest of the world
Something went wrong...
1 day 42 mins

repressed/restrained world

just another suggestion as this might tie in with grey
Something went wrong...
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