Apr 18, 2011 09:46
13 yrs ago
French term
l'épars d'une trace
French to English
Art/Literary
Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
sculpture
I am translating a high-brow, poetic/dreamlike and very fanciful (i.e. incomprehensible!) text about a sculptor (XXXX) from the preface of a catalogue containing pictures of his work.
I´m struggling to decipher what "l'épars d'une trace" might mean in the below paragraph (I also don't really understand the use of "à" after the verb "ventiler", but that´s another matter. The entire sentence is totally obscure!!)
"De Trinidad ou d'Antigua, l'homme et la femme (le Couple antillais) sont ventilés **à l'epars d'une trace**, au profus d'un transplant, a l'incertain d'un discours; ils attendent de tourner les yeux. Avec XXXX en effet nous tournons notre face vers ce vent. Je veux dire qu'il nous donne l'energie. Oui. Qu'il revele en nous l'energie offusquée. XXXX est notre santé."
[NB: "le Couple antillais" is the name of one of the sculptor´s pieces]
My translation so far is, "From Trinidad and Antigua, the man and woman (the Couple antillais (West Indian Couple)) are separated by a ??scattered trace??, the abundance of a transplant and the uncertainty of discourse. " [what on earth is he going on about???!!!).
Thanks in advance for any help you can give! MUCH APPRECIATED!!!
I´m struggling to decipher what "l'épars d'une trace" might mean in the below paragraph (I also don't really understand the use of "à" after the verb "ventiler", but that´s another matter. The entire sentence is totally obscure!!)
"De Trinidad ou d'Antigua, l'homme et la femme (le Couple antillais) sont ventilés **à l'epars d'une trace**, au profus d'un transplant, a l'incertain d'un discours; ils attendent de tourner les yeux. Avec XXXX en effet nous tournons notre face vers ce vent. Je veux dire qu'il nous donne l'energie. Oui. Qu'il revele en nous l'energie offusquée. XXXX est notre santé."
[NB: "le Couple antillais" is the name of one of the sculptor´s pieces]
My translation so far is, "From Trinidad and Antigua, the man and woman (the Couple antillais (West Indian Couple)) are separated by a ??scattered trace??, the abundance of a transplant and the uncertainty of discourse. " [what on earth is he going on about???!!!).
Thanks in advance for any help you can give! MUCH APPRECIATED!!!
Proposed translations
(English)
5 | dispersed by the winds and turned into a vestige | Dieezah |
3 +1 | with sparse lines | cc in nyc |
4 | scattered to an abstraction | bigmimi |
2 | scattering or dispersal of a trace | silvester55 |
Change log
Apr 18, 2011 09:46: changed "Kudoz queue" from "In queue" to "Public"
Apr 18, 2011 10:22: Stéphanie Soudais changed "Term asked" from "l\'épars (d\'une trace)" to "l\'épars d\'une trace"
Proposed translations
3 hrs
scattering or dispersal of a trace
this is my humble suggestion
1-i take here " ventilés " as : exposé au vent de l'incertitude ( ou autre).ventilés à : comme exposés ou soumis à ....
2-the trace to follow is scattered , dispersed
alors ils vont lá où le vent les emmene , car la trace s'est dissipée
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Note added at 3 hrs (2011-04-18 12:56:02 GMT)
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épars dans ce texte , nom , pas adjectif
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Note added at 3 hrs (2011-04-18 12:58:56 GMT)
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De l’ancien français espars (« éclair »), espardre (« éclairer, disperser »), du latin spargere (« répandre »).
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Note added at 3 hrs (2011-04-18 13:00:33 GMT)
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(Marine) Petits éclairs qui ne sont pas suivis de coups de tonnerre.
1-i take here " ventilés " as : exposé au vent de l'incertitude ( ou autre).ventilés à : comme exposés ou soumis à ....
2-the trace to follow is scattered , dispersed
alors ils vont lá où le vent les emmene , car la trace s'est dissipée
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2011-04-18 12:56:02 GMT)
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épars dans ce texte , nom , pas adjectif
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2011-04-18 12:58:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
De l’ancien français espars (« éclair »), espardre (« éclairer, disperser »), du latin spargere (« répandre »).
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Note added at 3 hrs (2011-04-18 13:00:33 GMT)
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(Marine) Petits éclairs qui ne sont pas suivis de coups de tonnerre.
+1
3 hrs
with sparse lines
Or "in sparse outline."
Here's a photo of the work:
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjec...
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Note added at 5 hrs (2011-04-18 15:33:22 GMT)
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Oh, oh! I just reread Stéphanie's Discussion entry... Of course...
spare lines or spare outline :-))
Here's a photo of the work:
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjec...
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Note added at 5 hrs (2011-04-18 15:33:22 GMT)
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Oh, oh! I just reread Stéphanie's Discussion entry... Of course...
spare lines or spare outline :-))
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
Rachel Fell
: very helpful to see the sculpture, sorry I haven't got time to answer more just now
7 hrs
|
Glad you like the photo. We can "chat" later...
|
|
agree |
Alexia Marie (X)
14 days
|
Thank you!
|
13 days
French term (edited):
l\'épars d\'une trace
dispersed by the winds and turned into a vestige
From Trinidad or Antigua, man and woman (or man and wife, as you feel it, that's what I get from the title of the sculpture) are dispersed by the winds and turned into a vestige.
dispersed by the winds = ventilés à l'épars
and turned into a vestige =l'épars une trace (as in " you can tell they were here but they are no more, the only evidence that remains of their existence is a trace, children scattered all over the Caribbean")
Please see my web reference for the choice of vestige instead of trace...
dispersed by the winds = ventilés à l'épars
and turned into a vestige =l'épars une trace (as in " you can tell they were here but they are no more, the only evidence that remains of their existence is a trace, children scattered all over the Caribbean")
Please see my web reference for the choice of vestige instead of trace...
Reference:
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
cc in nyc
: But the figures in the sculpture seem so unwindy and so aligned (just my impression). ;-) // Thank you for your understanding!
6 mins
|
I know, but you've got to take the text as an artistic work of it's own, inspired by the sculpture, not an actual description... Because the person who wrote it was also another artist so it's a little "away" from the sculpture ... I understand you..
|
82 days
scattered to an abstraction
interpretation :the couple (real) blown away by the winds becomes virtual (a trace)
Discussion
I like your translation of "ventilés" as "disperse" as it calls to mind the WIND, which is important given "ce vent" in the following sentence.
I still don´t really understand what "a l'epars d'une trace" is getting at: my instinct still tells me it refers to the "scattered (out)line" of the gap between the man and the woman in this sculpture, through which the wind/air can move/blow (hence "ventilé), maybe separating the two figures - this woudl tie in with your below explanation of people being dispersed all over the place during the period of slavery. What do you think?
Your explanation just below was very useful and your interpretation is probably better than any, so I´d like to award you the points for this. Can you please post an answer so I can do so? Thanks!
To me, this sentenc is again hinting at the slave origins of Caribbean people... A l'épars d'une trace, basically what the writer meant was that men and women have been scattered "from Trinidad or Antigua" all over the Caribbean dispersed by the winds.... (I say it like that to make the meaning clearer in workable English but I leave it to you to coin a phrase that will remain faithful to the poetic style... )
BTW - Yes, cc in nyc, I think this is the sculpture in question.
I wonder if "l'épars d'une trace" is referring to that hole between the male and female figure? It looks "scattered" in shape (i.e. not straight)....
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjec...
Worse still, the longer I look at the French text, the less confident I am that I understand it. :o
IMO, it doesn't look very windy, but the two figures are definitely distinct. (BTW, nice price!)
R. Confiant au sujet du créole :
Le langage des marins normands ou bretons se mêle, par une sorte de synthèse mystérieuse, aux syntaxes
de l’Afrique sub-saharienne pour donner une langue nouvelle.
It's a very chewy assignment you've got there!
ÉPARS s. m. (de l'ancien français espars, éclair, de la vieille forme espardre, disperser, et aussi éclairer, du latin spargo. L'éclair est ainsi nommé parce qu'il disperse sa lumière dans le ciel. Cependant Chevallet préfère rapporter ce mot à l'anglo-saxon "spare", étincelle, au hollandais "sprank", "sprankie", au bas-allemand "spark", à l'anglais "spark", sans doute de la même racine que le latin spargo). Marit. Eclair qui n'est pas suivi d'un coup de tonnerre.