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Another odd sentence...

This time it's from a list of communist regime rules/prohibitions.

'chaque citoyen est un simple maillon de la collectivite, vecteur d'homogeneisation sociale'

Although I get the meaning, I'm having trouble coming up with a good Eng version, especially for the bits in bold... 'maillon' means a link in a chain, but that image doesn't really work here... and for 'vecteur' so far i have options of means/vector/vehicle...

Any help would be welcome!

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I'll propose a basic element for the translation of un simple maillon.

I saw somewhere vecteur translated by a driving force


Thanks for the help. I have come up with 'each citizen is merely a cog in the workings

of the community, forming part of the machinery of social homogenization'. I needed something fairly literary, and think it's ok to change the imagery. Do you think this is an acceptable translation of the meaning? 

Merci...

In fact the English level  of your sentence is far away from my skills but as far as I can see the translation is acceptable. The mean idea is here.

Merci bien, c'est gentil!

I think you can keep the "link" analogy if you say something like: "each citizen is but one link in the communal/collective chain" or "one link in the chain of collectivity".

 

I wouldn't usually translate "collectivité" by "collectivity", but here where you're trying to give an image of each citizen being a "boring link in the chain" it could work-- indeed, the word "community" in English has really lost this sense nowadays and has quite positive connotations.

 

I think Erwan's suggestion of "a driving force behind..." could work here for "vecteur".

Yes, I see what you mean about community, and have changed it to collectivity - sounds more communist too, which is the right context. But 'driving force' seems to me that the citizens have power and are actively working towards 'social homogenisation' (ugh), whereas when I read the French, it seems to mean that they are passive. Or I am reading this wrong do you think? It's a fould sentence anyhow!
OK, I see what you mean: maybe "vehicle" is better, then?
Yes, you're probably right there. Thanks.

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