Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

Et quand bien même : on ne lutte pas contre son identité.

English translation:

And in any case : true nature always win out

Added to glossary by lundy
Sep 19, 2008 14:42
15 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

Et quand bien même : on ne lutte pas contre son identité.

Homework / test French to English Other Tourism & Travel Breton maritime festival
The text is from a press release from a maritime festival held in Douarnenez, Brittany. This is a fuller extract: Comme le veut l’usage, les quatre jours de fête de Douarnenez ont choisi de faire appel à une certaine forme d’émotion, de provoquer la réflexion et la curiosité des visiteurs. Et quand bien même : on ne lutte pas contre son identité. Douarnenez depuis les grèves des usines sardinières du début du vingtième siècle aux traditionnels Gras s’est toujours préféré rebelle et décalée que policée. I would welcome any help in understanding this more clearly, as so far I've only come up with "How could it be otherwise? you can only be true to yourself." - which sounds odd.
Change log

Sep 21, 2008 12:36: lundy Created KOG entry

Proposed translations

20 hrs
Selected

And in any case : true nature always win out

or, "true nature will always win out" or "prevail".I think your "how could it be otherwise" is good in the context though. An inversion here with lutter changing to gagner which also gets around the problem of "on" - I don't think that "you" is appropriate here for this type of text. They are saying that douarnenez's festival is not like run of the mill festivals - it encourages people to participate more and think more about the history of the town. Only natural really since Douarnenez has always had a history of being outside the common pail.
Actually, I 've just thought you could possibly put "and it's only to be expected as true nature always wins out. Ever since the sardine factory strikes etc. etc.

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Note added at 1 day21 hrs (2008-09-21 12:37:17 GMT) Post-grading
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Thanks Laura!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
33 mins

In any case, we don't fight against ourselves

:)
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1 hr

Even so, there's no denying your roots

Even so, you can't fight against nature...
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1 hr

We are who we are and we shouldn't (try to/and) deny it

Or: we are who we are and we're not going to deny it.

I'd see the quand bien même bit as being emphatic. So rather than get bogged down in the "even if/though" "notwithstanding" quagmire maybe use it to emphasis what comes next. The preceding bit (which implies an "in your face"/challenging approach) and the following bit - indicating a radical tradition/history - might support this.

There's usually scope for flexibility in texts like this.
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1 hr

And yet there's no point in fighting against your true nature

Just another idea (or a variation on the same).
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9 mins

si bien esto no supone,en ningun caso,una lucha contra su identidad

Mi opción.Suerte.

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Note added at 3 horas (2008-09-19 18:01:20 GMT)
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I thought it was french-spanish .Sorry!
Peer comment(s):

neutral Claire Chapman : French to English forum
17 mins
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5 hrs

and anyways/anyhow, you can't possibly renounce your identity

Just a try at it.
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1 day 1 hr

with still holding on to their Identity

"with" shows there is no opposition between the festival and the inhabitants.which Ithink the text wanted to stree this in a "litote" type of a way.
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