translating a sentence

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marc Vonhalmen on March 20, 2010 at 2:02pm

The sentence sounds a bit weird to me (and my mother tongue is French). The "qui n'ait été aussi" implies that something else (maybe in the previous sentence?) was the object of representations in the civic imaginary, but no context or form of Greek sociability was...... Are you sure of the French sentence? Could it be:
Il n'est pas de lieu et de forme de la la sociabilité grecque qui n'ait été autant l'object de représentations dans l'imaginaire civique.
OR:
Il n'est pas de lieu et de forme de la la sociabilité grecque qui n'ait été aussi peu l'object de représentations dans l'imaginaire civique.

Permalink Reply by Hamilla So on March 21, 2010 at 3:30am

Thanks so much for responding to my request for help, and I'm glad that I got a native speaker. The sentence does sound odd to me, and I was at my wit's end when I decided to seek assistance. I will double check the original text and come back to you, either tomorrow or Monday at the latest (because I left the text in my office). --Your help is most sincerely appreciated!

Permalink Reply by Hamilla So on March 22, 2010 at 7:19pm

OK, I've finally got hold of the text. The sentence quoted in my initial post appears at the very beginning of the text. Here I also post what follows it so that you might have a context. Any input would be great. Thank you very much, Marc!

Il n'est pas de lieu et de forme de la sociabilité grecque qui n'ait été aussi l'object de représentations dans l'imaginaire civique. Des recherches récentes menées sur les récits mythiques, le théàtre ou l’histoire, des études en cours sur l’iconographie, montrent comment la cité met en scène les pratiques collectives, en ensure les limites et les dangers, et leur donne une place dans un système de représentations proper à chaque époque.

Une synthèse en ce domaine, étant donné l’état actuel des recherches, est impossible, mais il est peut-être utile de regrouper quelques sujets pour lesquels des travaux permettent de poursuivre une réflexion sur le theme: imaginaire et sociabilité.

Permalink Reply by Marc Vonhalmen on March 22, 2010 at 9:39pm

Ooooooooookay now I get it. Actually you translation was correct!
"There is no context or form of Greek sociabiliy that was not aslo the object of representations in the civic imaginary."
It's exactly what that French sentence means. Sorry for my hesitation, but that sentence is written in a quite unusual way. The context really helped.

Permalink Reply by Hamilla So on March 22, 2010 at 10:58pm

Thank you so much, Marc. I struggled with the question of whether the topic sentence and the rest of the paragraph seem to be making opposite statements (even though the tenor of the entire essay was pretty clear to me). Your reassurance is most helpful. Thanks.

Permalink Reply by Judith Franck on March 29, 2010 at 8:05pm

Hi,
I may be too late on this thread (and it's my first ever comment here!) but I had to look into this as I didn't understand the use of imaginary as a noun in English. In fact, using it in English in this context is fairly recent and I would suggest the following translation if the sentence is to be understood by mere mortals :

There is no context or form of Greek sociability that was not also represented in the collective civic imaginary.

If anyone is interested in a lively discussion on the topic of the use of « imaginary » as a noun in English, have a look here :