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geste plastique
bénéfice des domaines
Nov 13, 2023 13:31
6 mos ago
42 viewers *
French term

emporter

French to English Art/Literary Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
Again about the Victoire de Samothrace and its position at the top of the Louvre's Daru staircase:

"Les ailes déployées, elle semble emporter le musée tout entier".

Thank you.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +5 (It would seem) the entire museum is swept up in the impulse of her spread wings
4 Wings spread, she seems to carry away the whole museum.

Proposed translations

+5
18 mins
Selected

(It would seem) the entire museum is swept up in the impulse of her spread wings

This is my best shot... The language is very poetic. I would prioritise the feeling of elation over a word-for-word rendering...
Peer comment(s):
agree Helen Shiner : Yes, that’s the gist, I agree. Maybe something like: with her wings outstretched, she seems to sweep up (or perhaps even dominate) the whole museum
7 mins
I like 'outstretched' yes, more expressive.
agree abe(L)solano
8 mins
agree ormiston : Nice. What about 'she seems to embrace the whole museum in her outstretched wings'
25 mins
agree writeaway : I like Helen's suggestion outstretched wings
44 mins
agree philgoddard : I think you need an active construction like Helen's or ormiston's, and 'it would seem' isn't quite right. But 'sweep up' is perfect.
1 hr
Something went wrong...
2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you. I stayed with my original idea of "embrace", which Ormiston also suggested, but "swept up" conveys the same sense. "
23 hrs

Wings spread, she seems to carry away the whole museum.

A bit closer to the original text than the alternative previously proposed, but it seems important to me that the personification of this statue and the touch of humour present in the original text be conveyed. Also, there's a play-on-words using the French verb emporter, meaning both physically carrying something and getting carried away emotionally, which can also be conveyed, in my opinion, by the English word, carry.
Example sentence:

Il commence a trop s'emporter sur le sujet.

Reference:

https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9E1201

Note from asker:
Thank you.
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