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le monde étant bien fait
Valoir état des lieux d’entrée
Apr 19, 2021 22:53
3 yrs ago
47 viewers *
French term

à la vie - here

French to English Art/Literary Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting Artist's philosophy
In a quotation from an artist about his approach to painting. No context to the quotation, but this is the whole short paragraph: "« Ce qui explique que, comme en Normandie, à Venise, à New- York, à Abidjan, ces lieux gorgés d'humidité, je peux à Saint- Rémy, sur ce motif apparemment immuable : " Les oliviers devant St Paul " continuer ma chasse à la lumière, aux nuages en mouvement aux reflets mouvants... à la vie. Et pour moi, chaque toile est une nouvelle aventure »" What is the sense of "à la vie" here? For life (ie for the whole of my life)? Thanks for any help.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +5 for Life
4 +10 life itself
3 +2 for experience
3 to depict a reflection/depict reflections of life

Discussion

Saeed Najmi Apr 20, 2021:
Very likely, yeah. The painter chased light and colours Southwards where they are more intense and more abundant.
Conor McAuley Apr 20, 2021:
Just for context, with the olive trees, can we assume that this is in Provence, here -- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Rémy-de-Provence?
Nicky Over (asker) Apr 20, 2021:
Thanks for the tip, Nikki - I don't think I can change the heading, but will avoid "here" another time!
Nikki Scott-Despaigne Apr 20, 2021:
@Nicky If you can change your term heading, it might be a good idea to remove "- here -".
Why? As it is not part of the term, it "parasites" terms searches. Proofreading and correcting terms posted is one of the housekeeping tasks the mods undertake. Also, when you think about it, any request for help with a term could have "here" added as it is almost always a matter of context and not just a matter of checking a dictionary. ;-)
Nikki Scott-Despaigne Apr 20, 2021:
@Suzie The addition of "itself" makes all the difference. It works well.
Suzie Withers Apr 20, 2021:
I think "life itself" works well
Helen Shiner Apr 19, 2021:
@Nicky It belongs with ‘chasse’ - ‘chasse ... à la vie’. The artist is seeking to capture light, clouds ... life itself. Something of that nature should work.

Proposed translations

+5
58 mins
Selected

for Life

For me, it is the literal meaning which I would write with a capital ''L'' if there is no objection.
'' Ce qui explique...Je peux.....continuer ma chasse à la lumière, aux nuages en mouvement aux reflets mouvants... à la vie.'' His pursuit is light and light connotes life. Light changes according to times of the day and of the night and of particularly humid venues such as Normandie, Venise, New- York, Abidjan. These changes of light impact colours to appear in different shades and hues. Such is life, too.
Peer comment(s):
agree Carol Gullidge : Although no need to capitalise, IMO!
7 hrs
Thank you
agree Nikki Scott-Despaigne : Works too in context. I like Suzie Withers suggestion of "for life itself". Without the capital, as Carol points out. ;-) I thought it was a typo but now see it is a deliberate choice. I consider that there is nothing to justify it here.
10 hrs
Thanks. The capital L is for emphasis as the text shows a progression that culminates with the term "life".
agree Mpoma : disagree with your choice of the capital L: this works in English pretty much as it does in French.
16 hrs
Thanks.
agree philgoddard : This is fine, minus the capital L, but I think Helen's version is an improvement.
1 day 18 hrs
Thanks philgoddard. It is an infringement to the rules but it is meant to have the same emphatic effect as Helen's suggestion.
agree Lucy Teasdale
2 days 14 hrs
Thanks Lucy
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks for your help."
1 hr

to depict a reflection/depict reflections of life

My interpretation.
Peer comment(s):
neutral mrrafe : Many Americans went to beleaguered Communist Romania for med school in the '70s. A joke was that the better students were there for medicine, and the worse ones were there "pe viaţă" (for the life).
44 mins
Something went wrong...
+10
11 hrs

life itself

Portraying the olive trees are a means for the artist to capture light ... and life itself.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2021-04-20 10:14:53 GMT)
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See my discussion entry. I have added ‘itself’ because the way à la vie sits at the end of the sentence suggests the culmination intended.
Peer comment(s):
agree Suzie Withers
7 mins
Thank you, Suzie
agree SafeTex
1 hr
Thanks, SafeTex
agree writeaway
1 hr
Thanks, writeaway
agree Yvonne Gallagher : of course
1 hr
Thanks, Yvonne ;-)
agree Victoria Britten
3 hrs
Thanks, Victoria
agree Sandra & Kenneth Grossman
3 hrs
Thank you, Sandra & Kenneth
agree Cyril Tollari
3 hrs
Thank you, Cyril
agree Heather Langdale
5 hrs
Thank you, Heather
neutral Mpoma : The French doesn't see any need to put "elle-même", so this strikes me as reading too much into the French, disambiguating when the numinous, ambivalent feel should be preserved.
5 hrs
That’s up to Nicky to decide - she can see the whole sentence, but to my eyes the sentence builds to that culmination.
agree philgoddard
1 day 7 hrs
Thanks, Phil
agree Saeed Najmi : Your answer and mine are similar, we just rendered the idea of "the real life" differently.
1 day 10 hrs
Thanks, Saeed Najmi - it’ll doubtless depend on how the rest of the sentence is translated. My answer is a follow-up to my discussion entry. There were no other answers then.
Something went wrong...
+2
12 mins

for experience

"chasse à [...] à la vie" The "à la" construction is repeated, and applies to "la vie" as well.

Emphasised, I think, by "une nouvelle aventure".

chasse > my quest?

You could go literal, but I think that would be an unpoetic option in the context.







--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 mins (2021-04-19 23:07:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Experience in a broad sense, obviously.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2021-04-20 11:47:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"I went out there
In search of ***experience***
To taste and to touch
And to feel as much as a man can
Before he repents"

- The Wanderer, Johnny Cash
Peer comment(s):
agree mrrafe : For experience, I think. "For life" could mean "for survival," which isn't the intention.
30 mins
Thanks mrrafe!
agree Nikki Scott-Despaigne : I like "experience". Cf. Phil, in context "for life" wld work. It's a statement of the person's approach. Others terms come to mind such as the inevitable "découverte", "ouverture", etc. Other syn. wld work, dep. on o/all style of the translation.
10 hrs
Thanks Nikki!
neutral Helen Shiner : How does this relate to les oliviers? / It’s not about symbolism, but what, in painting this motif, he is seeking to capture.
11 hrs
I don't see the olive trees as the important element in the sentence, there's no symbolism. / I see what you mean now. We have two slightly different interpretations -- I am suggesting an artistic AND a personal quest, I think that is implied.
Something went wrong...
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