Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

auraient fait la fierté

English translation:

...motions that would have made some parents so proud

Added to glossary by irenef
May 18, 2006 05:42
18 yrs ago
French term

auraient fait la fierté

French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature novel
Here is the complete phrase:
Je n’avais pas encore appris à dépister en moi ces mouvements qui auraient fait la fierté de certains parents.

This is a novel about a Haitian woman's coming-of-age. She is the daughter of a prostitute and becomes a revolutionary. This particular section concerns her adolescence. Here is a bit longer phrase to help situate the sentence.

Les hommes, parce qu’ils m’avaient volé ma mere étaient mes pires ennemis. Elle les aimait trop pour que j’en eusse aussi le gout. Cette aversion, résultat d’un raisonnement enfantin fut ma première sauvegarde. Je n’avais pas encore appris à dépister en moi ces mouvements qui auraient fait la fierté de certains parents. L’orgueil - Ô béni soit à jamais ce péché capital – m’empècha, plus que la surveillance étroite dont j’étais l’objet…

I think I'm misunderstanding the sentence's logic...any suggestions very welcome.

Discussion

Julie Barber May 18, 2006:
plus, even when expected to marry young, women's sexuality was rarely appreciated, even if she was married! you were more likely to get your 'bits' snipped at the time :((
Julie Barber May 18, 2006:
I'd agree that here, sexuality wasn't something to be proud of, because she states that she is constantly watched and that it was her revulsion rather than the 'surveillance' which stopped her.
Bailatjones (asker) May 18, 2006:
I should say, thank you everyone, because you've all been a great help so far!
Bailatjones (asker) May 18, 2006:
Thank you Irene for your helpful comments. I want to mention that in the context of this book there is really no way that the parents would have been proud of her for revealing her 'womanly nature' or 'sexuality'. Which is how I first understood her reference to 'mouvements'. With what you've suggested, that these 'mouvements' are really the 'social behaviors' needed to remain acceptable to society (especially the strict one that she is brought up in) I have less trouble with the logic of the sentence.
irenef May 18, 2006:
Also, "pas encore appris" suggests that she was to discover these feelings later in life anyway. I don't think she's talking about a loathing of men and I believe this riddle could be solved by having the whole picture of her life.
irenef May 18, 2006:
I had thought of that interpretation too, irat (see below). These could indeed be "sexual pulsions" and be praised in a society where you marry young. However, it appears to be inconsistent with the rest of the paragraph.
Pierre POUSSIN May 18, 2006:
We may also imagine that these "sexual pulsions" (movments) could have made some parents proud because their child was prepared early for a sexual life making her a woman at an early age?...
Julie Barber May 18, 2006:
re your note to Irat - yes I think that it's her disregard of her sexuality that would have made some parents proud. Something like 'I still hadn't learnt to recognise these feelings in myself, which would have made some parents so proud'

Proposed translations

+1
6 hrs
Selected

...inner motions that would have made some parents so proud

Well, I can see the point everyone's making. However, I think that the structure of the sentence actually suggests that these "mouvements" are the real object.
They are feelings and behaviours that are obviously widely praised in the society this girl lives in.
The question now would have to be what kind of feelings and behaviours she is talking about.
Is she referring to a loathing for men (unlikely to be praised in a society where girls are usually expected to fall in love, marry young and start a family)?
Or is she talking about those social behaviours that a young lady should display to be considered "respectable"? (and that also explains the use of the verb "to learn" - "appris à dépister". As you grow up, you learn social behaviours, which you internalise and thus "discover" in yourself ).
I think that she's saying that she did not steer clear of men because that was considered to be the right thing to do. She simply hated the opposite sex.

Well, that's how I understood it anyway. Hope it helps.
Peer comment(s):

agree LBMas : good points - w/ both suggestions, I'd leave out "so." It seems unnecessary.
3 hrs
Thank you. I put 'so' because it makes the sentence sound better while adding a sarcastic flavour.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you everybody. I would have liked to split points as irat gave me the actual sentence but it was the logic I needed discussed and Irene jumped in with that. And irat has lots of points already so I thought it doesn't hurt to help the underdog sometimes! Again - thank you all!"
+4
11 mins

...that would have made some parents so proud

It happens!

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Note added at 1 hr (2006-05-18 06:46:44 GMT)
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Agree with Julie. But it might also be the fact that she does not trust "men" at an early age, which makes her safer? Perhaps far-fetching?...She is young and wise?...
Note from asker:
Merci irat, this is how I understood that part of the phrase as well, but the logic is still bothering me. So it's not 'ces mouvements' that would have made the parents proud? (Because I suspect that is exactly what wouldn't have made them proud) but rather the fact that she hadn't yet discovered 'ces mouvements'...
Peer comment(s):

agree Julie Barber
30 mins
Merci Julie§
agree Ingeborg Gowans (X) : w/ Julie's comment
5 hrs
Thanks!
agree NancyLynn : at great risk, I add: inner (hetero) feelings which make parents proud
6 hrs
;-) Is there a risk, now, at being hetero? ;-) Thanks Nancy!
agree LBMas : w/o so, IMHO
9 hrs
Merci!
Something went wrong...
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