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Räuberstück

English translation: tale about robbery/robbers

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Räuberstück
English translation:tale about robbery/robbers
Entered by: Helen Shiner

21:45 Jul 18, 2009
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
German term or phrase: Räuberstück
The word appears in the following sentence, from an autobiography:
'Der Krieg, als Kreuzzug begonnen, endet als Räuberstück.'

The war is WWII, and the author is talking about corruption in the American administration of post-war Germany. I understand the meaning, but cannot find the term 'Räuberstück' in my dictionaries (only 'Räuber' and 'Stück'), and would like to include a translation of this sentence in an academic article I'm writing.

Many thanks!
Calypso3
Local time: 12:43
tale about robbery/robbers
Explanation:
This is a theatrical term - so literally a play about robbers/robbery, but maybe 'a tale about' would work better in this context.

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-07-18 23:26:03 GMT)
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Der Schinderhannes - Räuberstück mit Musik nach Carl Zuckmayer
24.07.2009 / Schloss Auerbach, Ausserhalb 2, 64625 Bensheim-Auerbach
Johannes Bückler, genannt der Schinderhannes, ist einer der bekanntesten Räuber seiner Zeit. Mit seiner Bande beherrscht er den Hunsrück, überfällt reiche Kaufleute und Bauern und wehrt sich gegen die napoleonischen Besatzer. Das Diebesgut teilt er mit den Armen und Schwachen. Sein Herz aber gehört Julchen. Als sie ein Kind erwartet, versucht er sein Leben zu ändern - doch es gelingt ihm nicht. Durch das hohe Kopfgeld denunziert, wird er mit seinen Kumpanen vor einer Menschenmenge in Mainz geköpft.

Ein Volksstück in hessischem Dialekt, mit übersprudelnder Lebensfülle und farbenfreudiger Milieuschilderung um den Räuberhauptmann Schinderhannes
http://www.pfungstaedter.de/hier_pfungts/veranstaltungskalen...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2009-07-18 23:28:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Bertolt Brecht "Die Kleinbürgerhochzeit"; Yaak Karsunke "Die Bauernoper"; Roger Vitrac "Victor oder die Kinder an der Macht"; Karin Keppel-Kriems und Hartmut Kriems "Freude schöner TeleVunken", eine deutsch-deutsche Komödie; Karin Keppel-Kriems und Hartmut Kriems "Faust, die wahre Geschichte"; Stück der Studiobühne Marburg "Irrwahna - Die Glücklichen" nach Ivan Golls Anti-Drama "Methusalem oder der ewige Bürger"; Karin Keppel-Kriems und Hartmut Kriems "Der Raub der Anna-Maria Roth" - ein Räuberstück; Karin Keppel-Kriems und Hartmut Kriems "Die getäuschte Prinzessin" - ein Märchenmix, "Die Kreatur des Dr. Frankenstein oder Ein Panoptikum der seltsamen Begegnungen" von Karin Keppel-Kriems und Hartmut Kriems, Musik: Albert Prins; "Lysistrate oder wie die Frauen den Krieg gewannen" frei nach Aristophanes, neu bearbeitet.
http://www.siwikultur.de/khb/4/2/1217.htm
Selected response from:

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:43
Grading comment
First validated answer (validated by peer agreement)



Summary of answers provided
4 +3tale about robbery/robbers
Helen Shiner
3 -1Opportunistic looting
David Partikian
1Act of robbery
Alexander Weichelt


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5
Act of robbery


Explanation:
I don't think there is an exact equivalent in English for the word "Räuberstück". Perhaps you could just go for "an act of robbery". Sorry for not having something more convincing to contribute.

Alexander Weichelt
Local time: 13:43
Does not meet criteria
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks, I think your answer together with Helen Shiner's answer gives me a good idea of what this term conveys.

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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
tale about robbery/robbers


Explanation:
This is a theatrical term - so literally a play about robbers/robbery, but maybe 'a tale about' would work better in this context.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2009-07-18 23:26:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Der Schinderhannes - Räuberstück mit Musik nach Carl Zuckmayer
24.07.2009 / Schloss Auerbach, Ausserhalb 2, 64625 Bensheim-Auerbach
Johannes Bückler, genannt der Schinderhannes, ist einer der bekanntesten Räuber seiner Zeit. Mit seiner Bande beherrscht er den Hunsrück, überfällt reiche Kaufleute und Bauern und wehrt sich gegen die napoleonischen Besatzer. Das Diebesgut teilt er mit den Armen und Schwachen. Sein Herz aber gehört Julchen. Als sie ein Kind erwartet, versucht er sein Leben zu ändern - doch es gelingt ihm nicht. Durch das hohe Kopfgeld denunziert, wird er mit seinen Kumpanen vor einer Menschenmenge in Mainz geköpft.

Ein Volksstück in hessischem Dialekt, mit übersprudelnder Lebensfülle und farbenfreudiger Milieuschilderung um den Räuberhauptmann Schinderhannes
http://www.pfungstaedter.de/hier_pfungts/veranstaltungskalen...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2009-07-18 23:28:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Bertolt Brecht "Die Kleinbürgerhochzeit"; Yaak Karsunke "Die Bauernoper"; Roger Vitrac "Victor oder die Kinder an der Macht"; Karin Keppel-Kriems und Hartmut Kriems "Freude schöner TeleVunken", eine deutsch-deutsche Komödie; Karin Keppel-Kriems und Hartmut Kriems "Faust, die wahre Geschichte"; Stück der Studiobühne Marburg "Irrwahna - Die Glücklichen" nach Ivan Golls Anti-Drama "Methusalem oder der ewige Bürger"; Karin Keppel-Kriems und Hartmut Kriems "Der Raub der Anna-Maria Roth" - ein Räuberstück; Karin Keppel-Kriems und Hartmut Kriems "Die getäuschte Prinzessin" - ein Märchenmix, "Die Kreatur des Dr. Frankenstein oder Ein Panoptikum der seltsamen Begegnungen" von Karin Keppel-Kriems und Hartmut Kriems, Musik: Albert Prins; "Lysistrate oder wie die Frauen den Krieg gewannen" frei nach Aristophanes, neu bearbeitet.
http://www.siwikultur.de/khb/4/2/1217.htm

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:43
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 139
Grading comment
First validated answer (validated by peer agreement)
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you - that's really helpful. I think I'll go with 'a tale of robbery'.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  mill2 (meets criteria): agree with the definition - not sure if I'd translate it this way though. Too tired for a better idea, however...
21 mins
  -> Thanks, mill - I am sure there are other ways of saying it. I expect our Asker will find something appropriate to the context having at least understood the meaning.
agree  Audrey Foster (X) (meets criteria)
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, Audrey
agree  sallyw (meets criteria)
1 day 13 hrs
  -> Thanks, sallyw
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22 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
Opportunistic looting


Explanation:
There is no direct cognate in any dictionary of mine. However, Raub with Krieg indicates "Plunder." Since German has the verb, pluendern, I'd go with looting. "Opportunistic" is a optional addition based on the context the initial crusade analogy.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 hrs (2009-07-19 16:32:01 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

No problem. Always fun to take part. My response was affected by my interest in the Crusades, which are often portrayed as an ill-disguised land-grab and intent to plunder.

I don't think the term "robbery" can apply in a war setting, hence it's unique usage with "Stuck" in the passage. Corruption by an occupying regime is also too weak as a translation and an assumption. Looting and rape seem to be the crime that MP's were--I believe--on the lookout for. Since the Crusades shad that problem, I am assuming there was an intended analogy to those issues.

Tough call in any case. May you find the perfect phrase!

David Partikian
United States
Local time: 04:43
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: That's interesting - opportunism is in fact key within the given context, but looting is, as AW1 suggests, too strong and specific. Thanks for helping me consider these options - it will help me be clearer in my discussion!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Alexander Weichelt: I am quite unsure about my suggestion; this one, however, can't be right. "looting" is a specifically defined crime and is not implied in "räuberstück" . the more so because it as about a corrupt administration and not about soldiers who loot
36 mins
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