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Apr 29 09:07
15 days ago
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French term

le temps donne aux paysages de l’enfance

French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
Il avait encore une trentaine de kilomètres à parcourir avant d’arriver à destination : serait-elle, dans cet arrangement particulier des choses que le temps donne aux paysages de l’enfance, la cause d’un magnifique chagrin, d’une émotion considérable ou d’un dégoût ?

This phrase appears in a French novel which follows which takes place simultaneously in present day and during WWII. It follows the story of a grandfather and grandson, the boy's grandfather is telling him all about what happened during his time in the war.

Target Audience: UK adults
Proposed translations (English)
3 +3 the peculiar way childhood memories get reshaped with the passing of time
3 +2 given the strange things time does to those places from childhood
3 the passage of time gives to things remembered from childhood
3 [things arrranged in that special way as/in which] time renders the landscapes of childhood
3 given the strange tendancy of childhood places to look different to how we remember them
Change log

Apr 29, 2024 09:07: changed "Kudoz queue" from "In queue" to "Public"

Apr 29, 2024 10:21: Yana Dovgopol changed "Vetting" from "Needs Vetting" to "Vet OK"

Discussion

Daryo Apr 29:
What exactly is this "destination" that is still 30 km away doesn't really matter. It's obviously a place remembered from childhood, that's all that matters.

What matters also is that you have to look at the whole of:
"cet arrangement particulier des choses que le temps donne aux paysages de l’enfance"

You can't translate only a part of it in some splendid isolation - won't work.
Lisa Rosengard Apr 29:
Is it possible that time changes things which are not seen to be exactly the same as they were many years before?
Emmanuella Apr 29:
Quelle est donc cette destination ? Merci.
Barbara Carrara Apr 29:
Agreed I also agree with Lisa.
Alice, please share what you've got so far.
From your profile, I see you are not (yet) a professional translator. Is this perhaps part of a homework? If so, it should be stated at the time of posting. Thank you.
Emmanuella Apr 29:
D'accord avec Lisa.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001391659123400...
Lisa Barrett Apr 29:
It depends on how you have translated the phrase before, 'dans cet arrangement particulier des choses que'. I would translate 'paysages de l’enfance' simply as 'childhood places' or 'places from our childhood' but 'le temps donne' needs to be considered with the phrase before, for me...

Proposed translations

+3
11 hrs
French term (edited): cet arrangement particulier des choses que le temps donne aux paysages de l’enfance
Selected

the peculiar way childhood memories get reshaped with the passing of time

[Il avait encore une trentaine de kilomètres à parcourir avant d’arriver à destination :] serait-elle, dans cet arrangement particulier des choses que le temps donne aux paysages de l’enfance, la cause [d’un magnifique chagrin, d’une émotion considérable ou d’un dégoût ?]

.... given the peculiar way childhood memories get reshaped with the passing of time ... will it (="the destination", i.e. what will be seen once arrived at destination be so different from what was remembered as to) cause ...
Peer comment(s):
agree Bourth : I like 'reshaped'.
16 mins
Thanks!
agree SafeTex
42 mins
Thanks!
disagree philgoddard : I don't see how you get 'memories' from 'paysages' - you've changed the whole meaning. You said 'place' in your discussion comment, and I agree with that.
3 hrs
If you look at it in splendid isolation the jump from "les paysages" to "memories" may look really strange, agree on that. But then I always translate the meaning of whole sentences, never of words on their own.
agree Jocelyne Cuenin : Without memories
12 hrs
You could leave it implicit, but I prefer this way. Thanks!
agree Emmanuella
14 hrs
Thanks!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
3 hrs

the passage of time gives to things remembered from childhood

So much will depend on what surrounds this passage ...


He still had around 30 km to go before he would be there [assuming we know what his destination is]: would—given the peculiar REarrangements that the passage of time gives to things [not necessarily 'landscapes', unless it is vital for the story or otherwise unclear, because memories of ALL things can be altered] remembered from childhood—arrival there cause magnificent [because it's bitter-sweet] chagrin, emotional upheaval, or disgust?
Peer comment(s):
neutral writeaway : the person asking is a 'modern languages student' so this is probably some sort of homework assignment/you have a point.
6 mins
What difference does that make? Everyone else here makes money from picking our brains, at least here there is no financial advantage to be had.
Something went wrong...
+2
4 hrs

given the strange things time does to those places from childhood

Just my opinion, but as it is a long sentence, I would try to keep that clause as brief as possible.
Another possibility: "..given the strange way time reassembles those places from our childhood..."
Example sentence:

: would it be, given the strange things time does to those places from childhood, cause for...

Peer comment(s):
neutral ormiston : I'm not at all sure these are physical landscapes
22 mins
You may be right, the asker should be able to tell from the wider context. Maybe it is a deliberately ambiguous choice of word and means both physical and mental "paysages"?
agree philgoddard : You've translated more than Alice asked for, but I like your version. How about, more concisely, 'to childhood places'?
1 hr
Thank you, Phil. Yes, briefer still and "childhood places" could also cover "inner" places, too.
neutral Daryo : Strictly speaking the text is about the "memories of ..." not the childhood places per se.
6 hrs
agree Jocelyne Cuenin : Like philgoddard
18 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 day 7 hrs

[things arrranged in that special way as/in which] time renders the landscapes of childhood

my suggestion

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 7 hrs (2024-04-30 16:56:46 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24762769

This attachment to the landscapes of childhood plays a central role in adults' memory, sense of identity and belonging.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 7 hrs (2024-04-30 16:58:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7582376-time-renders-all-pe...

'Time renders all people and all things silent. [...]'
Something went wrong...
4 days

given the strange tendancy of childhood places to look different to how we remember them

Bit of a reshuffle...I'm using 'tendancy to look different' for 'cet arrangement particulier des choses' and 'how we remember them' for 'temps'.
Something went wrong...
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