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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

essentiellement voyageur

English translation:

transient/transitory

Added to glossary by Helene Tammik
Nov 13, 2019 16:04
4 yrs ago
French term

essentiellement voyageur

French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
The description "essentiellement voyageur" is applied to the medium of paper in the following paragraph. The context is a discussion of 17th century engravings relating to horses. The writer is comparing the use of paper in art, in which the artist's hand enjoys more freedom, with the use of metal plate, which results in something more fixed:

Le papier comme médium tactile, mouvant, essentiellement voyageur, accueille sur sa surface des énergies à des degrés d’intensité différents. Le dessin comme pensée à l’œuvre proclame, dans sa désinvolture, un droit à l’errance, tandis que la gravure presse et fige l’idée. Lorsque la main se heurte au métal, le repentir n’est plus vraiment possible.

I would welcome any suggestions as to how one might translate the adjective "voyageur" here, as it applies to paper. To describe it as "travelling" sounds decidedly odd to me.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +6 transient/transitory
4 +2 Eminently trans/portable
4 +1 essentially mobile
3 +1 inherently roaming/roving
4 inherently impermanent
4 inherently (more) freeflow/responsive
4 fluid in nature
3 essentially amenable
3 Intrinsically unrestrained
Change log

Nov 18, 2019 21:29: Helene Tammik Created KOG entry

Discussion

Yvonne Gallagher Nov 16, 2019:
@ ormiston et al I also don't see how this is biblical. Yes, the words used are similar to Bunyan but surely this context is different, about art media? "comparing the use of paper in art, ...the artist's hand enjoys more freedom, with the use of metal plate, which results in something more fixed". I take that as meaning that the paper, as a medium, is more "forgiving" and the artist can continue to erase or make changes to the design, whereas, in contrast, once you etch into metal it is, literally, an engraved permanent mark and can't be undone or "repented" (hence I don't see it as being about "travelling" at all but rather fluid, freeflowing movement)
SafeTex Nov 16, 2019:
@ Ormiston and all I really like "nomadic"
Carol Gullidge Nov 16, 2019:
Without further context, I suspect that the author is the only one who can tell whether or not he is playing with cultural references. I suggest you ask him!
ormiston Nov 16, 2019:
Daryo may be right we are maybe over-thinking it. I am now wondering if NOMADIC conveys the idea (if anyone is sure of what the writer means, please say!)
Daryo Nov 16, 2019:
Where is this idea coming from???? I can't see even the slightest hint that "papier .. essentiellement voyageur" could have anything to do with religion.

Yes, "voyageurs" of one kind or another are mentioned in the Bible, but the possible link with this ST is so tenuous that it is practically meaninglessness.

For all we know, this text could have been written by someone who never even saw the cover of a Bible - let alone read it - wouldn't have made any difference.
Cyril Tollari Nov 14, 2019:
@Carol Exactly, temporary stay. That's what voyageur means here in French.

Itinerant is a modern idea. The asker has to decide whether he wants to keep the same tone in English, and to remain obscure in his choice of words, because the writer seems to use old literary terms at times. Another option is to use modern words to try to explain it, and to work with different metaphors.
Carol Gullidge Nov 14, 2019:
I think a sojourn is a stay So perhaps doesn’t work here. Perhaps “itinerant” gives the idea of not being static, but not sure if it’s “biblical” enough!
Cyril Tollari Nov 14, 2019:
Pilgrim wouldn't work here, and I think voyageur is more a sojourner in the biblical context. Is there such as a thing as a "sojourning nature"?
Wolf Draeger Nov 14, 2019:
@Cyril Are you thinking of "pilgrim"?
Cyril Tollari Nov 14, 2019:
Well, I'm not 100% sure. I think Saint Paul was known as a "voyageur". What's the biblical equivalent to "essentiellement voyageur"? With its sojourning nature?
Carol Gullidge Nov 14, 2019:
@Cyril - I think you could be on to something! What you say makes eminent sense; why don’t you post it as an answer?
Cyril Tollari Nov 14, 2019:
Voyageur has a biblical tone to me. It's the connecting bit with the other sentences. They all have a religious/biblical reference : voyageur, errance, repentir.

voyageur
c) En partic. Personne se déplaçant dans un but religieux. Synon. pèlerin. Voyageur chrétien, pieux; bâton de voyageur. Prie en marchant, ma voyageuse, Va sanctifiant ton chemin.
https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/voyageur

Proposed translations

+6
24 mins
Selected

transient/transitory

I would suggest something along these lines, or fleeting/in flight/ephemeral, in contrast to the permanence of metal.
Note from asker:
Thank you for your suggestion, Helene!
Peer comment(s):
agree Sheri P
24 mins
agree Wolf Draeger
1 hr
agree Eliza Hall
2 hrs
agree Stephanie Benoist : I really love "ephemeral" even though it's a bit over the top
5 hrs
agree Timothy Rake
1 day 28 mins
agree Cyril Tollari : Agree with the idea (of being in transit), but I think there is a biblical ref missing with this choice of words.
1 day 2 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+1
41 mins

essentially mobile

or unstationary...

In the sense that it moves about under the artist's hand, it is flexible and responsive to the movement impressed onto it by the pencil
Peer comment(s):
agree Nicole Acher : good choice
10 hrs
Thanks Nicole!
Something went wrong...
+2
1 hr

Eminently trans/portable

Portable/transportable/mobile

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2019-11-13 17:16:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry, I didn’t see Lisa’s “mobile” as I took so long to post this!
Peer comment(s):
agree ormiston : Still, I think your reading deserves an agree. Yes, flexible in that it tolerates movement
2 days 16 hrs
Thanks :))
agree Sasha Barral-Robinson : But I think essentially transportable is the direct meaning, but you may have to adapt the sentence overall, stressing that it is 'light and transportable' in nature as opposed to other early mediums: stone tablets, frescoes, mozaics, slates etc.
13 days
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

essentially amenable

this is how I see it after the asker's comprehensive explanation of what is meant.
Amenable = capable of being acted upon in a particular way; susceptible.
or in another dictionary
ready or willing to answer, act, agree, or yield; open to influence, persuasion, or advice; agreeable; submissive; tractable:
Something went wrong...
+1
2 hrs

inherently roaming/roving

I'm thinking voyageur is intended to link back to horses, so if possible the translation should retain the broader metaphor of motion, hence "roaming" or a close synonym.

If this is the same text as Asker's question on depictions of the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus, then the writer appears to be very deliberate in his choice of words and mindful of their literary effect.
Example sentence:

As a palpable, shifting and inherently roaming medium, paper conveys energy of varying intensity.

As a palpable, shifting and inherently roving medium, paper absorbs energy of varying intensity.

Peer comment(s):
agree Cyril Tollari : Agree with the idea of roving, but I think there is a biblical ref missing with this choice of words.
1 day 4 mins
Thanks, Cyril! Interesting take!
Something went wrong...
16 hrs

inherently impermanent

This is an option that could work: it provides a direct contrast to the physical properties of the metal.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Daryo : "impermanent" ??? I wouldn't label "impermanent" something that can be preserved for centuries ... for far longer than magnetic tapes, hard disks, USB drives ...
2 days 1 hr
Something went wrong...
23 hrs

inherently (more) freeflow/responsive

been thinking about this since yesterday and this solution just came to me

Le papier comme médium tactile, mouvant, essentiellement voyageur

the paper is a tactile medium, fluid, inherently (more) freeflow or responsive

or even
inherently allowing more freeflow movement,
Something went wrong...
1 day 3 hrs

fluid in nature

A more relaxed rendering perhaps.
Something went wrong...
2 days 4 hrs

Intrinsically unrestrained

Plenty nice suggestions, but in light of the discussion, the idea here is that the medium does not impose the constraints of engraving, it is Greer to go where it pleases...
Something went wrong...
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