Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

su desprejuiciado uso del lenguaje

English translation:

his unfettered use of language / his uninhibited use of language

Added to glossary by Robert Forstag
Jun 30, 2017 14:06
6 yrs ago
3 viewers *
Spanish term

su desprejuiciado uso del lenguaje

Spanish to English Other Journalism Today\'s edition of *El País (Spain)
From an article about the philosopher Slavoj Žižek in today's edition of El País (Spain):

Es el pensador esloveno un filósofo controvertido y polémico, un agitador de conciencias afiliado a lo políticamente incorrecto. Su erudición, su solvencia teórica y su vasto abanico cultural le han convertido en una suerte de Sartre de este primer tramo de siglo, al menos, en su capacidad de penetración en la esfera pública, afirman sus defensores. Al tiempo, su capacidad de comunicación (apabullante), **su desprejuiciado uso del lenguaje** (en las antípodas de la Academia), y su dominio de las referencias de la cultura pop le han ayudado a llevar su mensaje a veinteañeros y treintañeros descontentos con el estado actual de las cosas, disconformes con el orden que configura el paradigma neoliberal. Ha enganchado con ellos por lo que defiende, sí.

There is no entry for "despreujuiciado" in the RAE. I found the following definition in www.diccionariolibre.com:

Persona de mente abierta que no se deja llevar por ideas o juicios preconcebidos.

So then:

"unpretentious language" (in the sense of "short of impenetrable academic jargon) ??

Or perhaps simply:

"clear and direct" ??

Discussion

Charles Davis Jul 1, 2017:
@Cecilia There are some:

"iniciaremos un debate desprejuiciado y abierto a cualquier punto de vista que se quiera expresar" (Spain)
http://nacionhumanauniversal.org/periodico/category/sociedad...

"Pero se necesitará un mediador imparcial y desprejuiciado para dar los primeros pasos en esa dirección" (Dom. Rep.)
http://acento.com.do/2015/opinion/8268222-un-mediador-imparc...

"La necesaria apertura a un debate inteligente, comprometido, desprejuiciado y sin temores." (Cuba)
https://cubaposible.com/la-necesaria-apertura-a-un-debate-in...

"por hacer un retrato desprejuiciado y objetivo de Muhammad" (Spanish author, I think)
https://books.google.es/books?id=kLbIffg17HkC&pg=PA260&lpg=P...

But I think it more often has the other meaning (the one we have here). And you're quite right that it's used like this in Spain too.
Cecilia Gowar Jul 1, 2017:
Desprejuiciado/a Is certainly quite familiar for me. But I ran a search and have also found it used in Spain, with the same meaning.
"El pop fresco y desprejuiciado de Antónia Font llega mañana a Cultural Cordón"
https://goo.gl/fi7WeZ
So far I have not seen a simple case of it meaning "unbiased".
Joseba Elola seems to be Spanish through and through....
Robert Forstag (asker) Jul 1, 2017:
@Charles I completely agree with you regarding both the usefulness and limitations of consulting the English version in such circumstances. (I had initially included an observation similar to yours regarding the limitations of such consults in my previous comment, but then deleted it prior to posting.)
David Ronder Jul 1, 2017:
Oh, I see, you meant the author of the article would be implying other academics were dishonest. I still think the point stands: it's a way of describing Žižek's discourse, not an implicit judgement about the honesty of other academics. Anyway.
Charles Davis Jul 1, 2017:
By the way, the writer of this piece is Spanish (Basque), but the examples of "desprejuiciado" I find where it clearly doesn't mean "unbiased" (which it can also mean) are generally from Argentina. I don't know whether it's a particularly Argentine usage, though I can't help noticing that Pat and Cecilia seem familiar with it. You find "humor desprejuiciado", for example, which pretty clearly means something like unfettered or uninhibited, not afraid to shock (or indeed frank and fearless, David).
David Ronder Jul 1, 2017:
A good choice, Robert, but... I don't agree that 'frankness' would imply Žižek thinks other academics are evasive or dishonest, merely that his own discourse is not marked by hedging and traditional academic niceties. Also, he's generally not very polite about other academics, positioning himself as very much outside the club by saying things like 'Most of the idiots I know are academics': http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2013/10/slavoj-zizek-most-...
Charles Davis Jul 1, 2017:
@Robert I didn't mean to imply that one should look at the English version as a matter of course. If I know that an English version exists I find it almost impossible to resist having a look, but I far prefer to do so after trying to translate it myself. If I then look at what someone else has done and think it's better than the best I can do, I'm not above stealing it, but if you have a look before trying to come up with your own version, it's then very difficult to respond to the text spontaneously.
Robert Forstag (asker) Jul 1, 2017:
@Charles Thanks for pointing this out (and also for implicitly suggesting consultation of the English version of *El País* to address queries like this one). I think that the English translation in this instance supports my understanding of the phrase (and apparently yours as well). (Please see my grading comment.)
Charles Davis Jul 1, 2017:
English version in El País The translator simply left out "desprejuiciado":

"Simultaneously, his overwhelming communications skills, use of language (as far removed as one can imagine from that of academia) [...]"
http://elpais.com/elpais/2017/06/30/inenglish/1498820162_263...
Cecilia Gowar Jul 1, 2017:
@David Ronder I admit I had not searched the full article, but based on this description:
"Hilar un discurso lúcido mezclando el porno con el subjetivismo, la escatología con la refundación de la izquierda, o Lacan con Ernst Lubitsch, salpimentado con chistes regionales y referencias a Taylor Swift es algo que está al alcance de pocos."
I would even say "maverick", or "non-conformist".
Robert Forstag (asker) Jun 30, 2017:
Corrections to text in post: I meant "shorN of impenetrable academic jargon" in explaining one of my suggested translations of the posted phrase.

"In the DLE" for "in the RAE."

Proposed translations

+4
7 mins
Selected

his unfettered use of language

This came to mind

PressReader - The Sunday Guardian: 2011-01-30 - Are journalists not ...
www.pressreader.com/india/the-sunday-guardian/20110130/2825...
Jan 30, 2011 - Their unfettered use of language sends readers voyeuristicly through their own journeys, conversations and experiences. Journalists find the ...
Pryor & PETA - Animal Liberation Front
animalliberationfront.com/Saints/ARHallOfFame/Pryor_PETA.htm
Richard Pryor was known for his biting humor that was both uproariously funny and poignantly insightful, for his unfettered use of language and for his ...
Universe Polymorphism and Typical Ambiguity | The n-Category Café
https://golem.ph.utexas.edu/category/2012/12/universe_polymo...
Dec 9, 2012 - Obviously, a completely unfettered use of language like this would allow us to reproduce the classical paradoxes. What we need to know is that ...

unfettered
adjective
not confined or restricted.
"his imagination is unfettered by the laws of logic"
synonyms: unrestrained, unrestricted, unconstrained, free, unbridled, untrammelled, unchecked, unconfined, unimpeded, unhampered, uncontrolled, unbound, untied, unchained, unshackled, loose
"the choice between a planned economy and an unfettered market"
Peer comment(s):

agree Cecilia Gowar : This is a good option too.
1 hr
Thank you!
agree neilmac : Unfettered... nice ;)
17 hrs
Thanks Neil. Don't get a chance to use that word much.
agree David Ronder
21 hrs
Thank you!
agree Charles Davis : Or even uninhibited, perhaps
1 day 16 mins
Yes. Thanks, Charles!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "It seems to me that the key to understanding “su desprejuiciado uso del lenguaje” here is the parenthesis that follows it (“a las antípodas de la Academia”). The reference here is clearly not to <i>academics</> generally but to <i>academic philosophers</i> (and their often impenetrable jargon) in particular. Once this opposition is understood, it is apparent that “unbiased” and “non-judgmental” do not reflect the original here (i.e., academic philosophers are not being implicitly criticized for their preconceived notions, and the intention is not to present Žižek as “devoid of prejudice”). “Frankness” doesn’t work here either (this would imply that Žižek’s academic counterparts are viewed by the author as being engaged in a deliberate evasion or obscuring of what they know to be true). “Unconventional” at first glance is plausible here, yet the contrast drawn by the author of this piece seems to have less to do with the “conventions” of academic philosophy <i>per se</i> than with its embrace of conventions that have created a hermetic discourse at a far remove from the lives most people live. I think that what “desprejuiciado” means here is “unconstrained” – specifically, not bound by the jargon and narrow preoccupations of academic philosophy. Of the suggestions offered, “unfettered" seems to best capture this meaning. Many thanks to all who responded to and commented on this query. "
+2
7 mins

unbiased/unprejudiced use of language

I feel this refers to his questioning of all political stances. From his Wikipedia entry:

"A critic of capitalism, neoliberalism and political correctness, Žižek identifies as a political radical, and his work has been characterized as challenging orthodoxies of both the political right and the left-liberal academy."

Peer comment(s):

agree jude dabo : ok
40 mins
agree franglish : or impartial
1 hr
Something went wrong...
+2
1 hr

his unconventional use of language

Although not in the RAE, "desprejuiciado/a" is very much used in Spanish, meaning not tied down by norms, iconoclastic. It does say in your paragrah that the author's writing is "at odds with the academy".

Here is a description of the concept: http://www.cecies.org/articulo.asp?id=358

"el desprejuicio requiere la destrucción de un aparato de opiniones preconstruídas, ..."

And one of several examples of the use:
https://goo.gl/EVwtV4
Rachel era hermosa, inteligente, una joven desprejuiciada, capaz de absorber cuanto veía a su alrededor.

Here's an example of the use in English:

"The Wake, which deterred publishers with its unconventional use of language, was the first crowdfunded novel to make it to the Man Booker long list. "
https://www.britannica.com/art/literature-Year-In-Review-201...
Peer comment(s):

agree JohnMcDove : I think this answer gets the concept with its nuances. :-)
8 hrs
Many thanks John!
agree David Ronder : Yes, you make the case well and it fits with what I've read of him - e.g. calling Trump 'scum' in an otherwise learned discourse.
20 hrs
Thanks David!
Something went wrong...
10 hrs

his use of language utterly devoid of worship to the norm/his enfant terrible attitude with language

Another option to the very good ones already given.

Not sure how would you say this in proper "Henglish", but using "enfant terrible", could convey the idea of being unorthodox, unconventional

his "enfant terrible" usage of language...

or

his "enfant terrible" attitude in the use of language.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/enfant_terrible

http://dle.rae.es/?id=U0Kbri5

At any rate, some ideas, for whatever they may inspire you. Or rather inspire U.
Something went wrong...
23 hrs

the frankness of his discourse

I thought I'd throw in a freer translation of the term. Whatever its etymology, I am sure that in this context it is not to do with him being impartial or unbiased (in fact I doubt he would aspire to be either). It is about his habitual scorning of the norms of academic discourse and throwing in demotic or even slang terminology as the occasion arises.
Something went wrong...
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