Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
onirique
English translation:
romanticise
Added to glossary by
Cath St Clair (X)
Feb 26, 2008 12:16
16 yrs ago
4 viewers *
French term
onirique
French to English
Art/Literary
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Context:
'Cette représentation amère de la guerre, ni onirique ni glorificatrice, arrive très tôt après la fin du conflit (quand sort le film).'
I have come up with 'This bitter representation of war that seeks neither to glorify it nor paint a dreamlike image...'
Is this the best we can do in English, or can anyone think of a more natural-sounding way to put it?
'Cette représentation amère de la guerre, ni onirique ni glorificatrice, arrive très tôt après la fin du conflit (quand sort le film).'
I have come up with 'This bitter representation of war that seeks neither to glorify it nor paint a dreamlike image...'
Is this the best we can do in English, or can anyone think of a more natural-sounding way to put it?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +1 | romanticise |
Jack Dunwell
|
| 4 +1 | dreamlike |
Paul Reeve
|
| 4 | dreamy |
Angeliki Papadopoulou
|
| 4 | fantasising |
B D Finch
|
| 4 | rose-coloured / tinted spectacles |
Irene McClure
|
| 4 | unrealistic |
Carol Gullidge
|
| 4 | escapist |
Bourth (X)
|
| 3 | fanciful/imaginary/unreal |
CMJ_Trans (X)
|
| 3 | illusory/chimerical |
suezen
|
Proposed translations
+1
3 hrs
Selected
romanticise
"seeks neither to glorify nor to romanticise"
from....dreamy....romantic....wishful thinking of the emotional sort!
from....dreamy....romantic....wishful thinking of the emotional sort!
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks, Fourth, and to everyone else for their inspiring suggestions. I think this works well in context. Special thanks to B D Finch, whose 'fantasy' I have used later in the article. Once again, I can't split points... ;)"
8 mins
fanciful/imaginary/unreal
some options
8 mins
Angeliki Papadopoulou
Greece
Greece
Native in English
Specializes in field
Greece
Αγγλικά σαν τη μητρική μου γλώσσα
Native in: Greek 
, English
Works in: English to Greek, Greek to English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
dreamy
...if it comes from the Greek word "oniro" = dream, which I suspect it does
8 mins
fantasising
Neither fantasising nor glorifying it.
16 mins
Irene McClure
Native in English
Political scientist, former UK Govt
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
rose-coloured / tinted spectacles
I like your translation, but if you are looking for an alternative, how about 'looking at war through rose-coloured (or rose-tinted) spectacles'? Although not a literal translation, I think this gets across the meaning of being unrealistic, idealistic or 'dreamlike' about war. Regards...
Note from asker:
| Thinking outside of the box - that's what I like! Thanks - I will play with all these suggestions. |
1 hr
Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
Works in field
United Kingdom
poetically precise prose with... panache
Native in: English
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
15
unrealistic
definitely keeping "within the box" here. You need something that doesn't simply repeat "glorification" by any other name...
1 hr
escapist
Another one for the list (with all the possible meanings of escapism, and who it applies to).
We probably need to have seen the film or at least know which film it is, which war it is about, and read more about it, to really home in on the best solution, like one of those missiles going down a chimney.
We probably need to have seen the film or at least know which film it is, which war it is about, and read more about it, to really home in on the best solution, like one of those missiles going down a chimney.
Note from asker:
| Yes, I'd love to see the film too ;) The client promised to send it to me 4 weeks ago. I would have bought it myself if I'd known I'd still be waiting... |
+1
2 hrs
Paul Reeve
Native in English
Works in field
Versatile and reliable PhD translator
Native in: English
Works in: French to English, English to French
dreamlike
"Dreamlike," the standard translation, works best: it doesn't require you to interpret what aspect of dreams the author wants to suggest and rule out the other senses that are available with this word.
I think the issue here is really with the word "glorificateur." If you have an adjective to correspond to that then your sentence can be
"This representation of war, neither dreamlike nor" whatever.
Tricky though because "glorify" (the form you've gone for to translate "glorificateur", for understandable reasons) is hard to substitute for. I think "glorified" would work here, but you might also want an adjective, like:
celebratory
ennobling
elevating
You could also go for a phrase, like "cloaked in glory," or something more original and simpler.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2008-02-26 14:39:32 GMT)
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You could also write it like: "...war, *as* neither " etc
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Note added at 2 hrs (2008-02-26 14:41:37 GMT)
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We're all quite confident about this one for some reason!
I think the issue here is really with the word "glorificateur." If you have an adjective to correspond to that then your sentence can be
"This representation of war, neither dreamlike nor" whatever.
Tricky though because "glorify" (the form you've gone for to translate "glorificateur", for understandable reasons) is hard to substitute for. I think "glorified" would work here, but you might also want an adjective, like:
celebratory
ennobling
elevating
You could also go for a phrase, like "cloaked in glory," or something more original and simpler.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2008-02-26 14:39:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
You could also write it like: "...war, *as* neither " etc
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2008-02-26 14:41:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
We're all quite confident about this one for some reason!
2 hrs
illusory/chimerical
a couple more for the pot!
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Note added at 5 hrs (2008-02-26 17:53:52 GMT)
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Perhaps the answer is simply to turn it round ...
There is nothing either glorious or illusory about this bitter representation of war
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Note added at 5 hrs (2008-02-26 17:53:52 GMT)
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Perhaps the answer is simply to turn it round ...
There is nothing either glorious or illusory about this bitter representation of war
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