Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Prospekt

English translation:

vista

Added to glossary by mill2
Jun 8, 2009 14:35
14 yrs ago
German term

Prospekt

German to English Social Sciences Philosophy
This is actually from an essay in an art catalogue, but the context is political/philosophical. The passage in question is metaphorical and concerns the alleged impossibility of a utopia or a different political arrangement of society:

Parallelen, wird uns gesagt, sind Linien, die sich niemals treffen. Egal welcher wir folgen, wir werden nie wieder die andere zu Gesicht bekommen. Zu Gesicht bekommen vielleicht, aber doch außer Reichweite, in gleich bleibender Distanz, als *Prospekt*.

I asked the author what he meant exactly by Prospekt and he wrote:

es ist primaer im Sinne von Ansicht, Aussicht gemeint, was sowohl fuer Landschaften verwendbar ist, als auch fuer eine Buehne. In jedem Fall aber die Distanz des Betrachters betont, vor dem sich etwas ausbreitet. Natuerlich ist mir hier auch die Assoziation zum Warenhausprospekt willkommen. Aber prospect will do, denke ich.

prospect won't do, as the definition of a sketched landscape is obsolete and I, for one, wouldn't get it if I came across it in this context. I thought of vista, but am hoping you might have some better ideas.

Thanks!

Proposed translations

54 mins
Selected

reword

Am I right in understanding this was originally intended to be wordplay with "Prospekt" as in the brochure? If so you'll have to forget that, so perhaps you could reword a little while you are at it.

A prospect is a view, but I can't see quite how you could use it effectively here, in this sentence (werde gerne eines besseren belehrt!).

Parellel lines, we are told, never meet. Whichever one we follow, we will never face the other. We may see it, but always out of reach, never coming closer, a distant vista.

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Note added at 59 mins (2009-06-08 15:34:38 GMT)
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"Three great vistas are the landscape designer William Nesfield's indelible signature on today's Kew." http://www.kew.org/places/kew/pagoda.html
Peer comment(s):

neutral Kim Metzger : Autor: "Natuerlich ist mir hier auch die Assoziation zum Warenhausprospekt willkommen."/Maybe the author did originally intend it to be a wordplay with brochure. And you're right, I wouldn't try to capture that in English.
8 mins
As I noted; but "prospect" isn't used for a brochure or leaflet, and I can't think of another word meaning both a brochure and a vista, can you?
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "decided to go with far-off vista - and I also used your "never coming closer" Thanks very much!"
8 mins

distant horizon//perspective

one senses there should be something better though

You would have to reword and say something about seeing it, always the same way off, a sort of distant horizon
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9 mins

(visual) percept / aspect

and adding to the above 2 possibilities these further thoughts:
scene, view, panorama, visual image, tableau
Something went wrong...
11 mins

panorama / vista / outlook

or maybe you have to 'unpack' it a bit

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Note added at 13 mins (2009-06-08 14:49:20 GMT)
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as part of the landscape
encompassed within our sights

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Note added at 16 mins (2009-06-08 14:52:01 GMT)
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within the sweep of the horizon
in what we survey

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Note added at 18 mins (2009-06-08 14:54:01 GMT)
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as part of the scene surveyed - this might relate as your client suggests to a stage or landscape painting, without it sounding too far off and yet not too near.
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+4
25 mins

Prospect seems fine to me.

I don't agree that "prospect" in this sense is obsolete or hard to understand.
There ia a well-known and often quoted line frm the hymn "FromGreenland's Icy Mountains": "Where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile", which is clear enough. I think also of the misprint in a hotel brochure quoted by Gerald Hoffnung in a radio programme: "There is a French widow in every bedroom, affording delightful prospects."
Peer comment(s):

agree Kim Metzger : And the word is loaded with appropriate connotations.
6 mins
Thank you.
agree Tom Tyson
49 mins
Thank you.
agree Barbara Wiebking
1 hr
Thank you.
agree Inge Meinzer
11 hrs
Thank you.
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