Glossary entry (derived from question below)
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.
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.
Proposed translations
(English)
4 +1 | ...inner motions that would have made some parents so proud | irenef |
4 +4 | ...that would have made some parents so proud | Pierre POUSSIN |
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.
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.
|
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?...
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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§
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|
agree |
Ingeborg Gowans (X)
: w/ Julie's comment
5 hrs
|
Thanks!
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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!
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agree |
LBMas
: w/o so, IMHO
9 hrs
|
Merci!
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Discussion