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prozessstufenübergreifend in dessen Verantwortungsbereich
Jul 18, 2014 10:30
9 yrs ago
German term

Furt aus Zuschauern

German to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature idiom
Greetings honored Colleagues!
This is another idiosyncratic use of metaphor from the marathon thriller. The image is clear. Brian is surrounded by a crowd of spectators and he must cross/traverse/wade through them to continue with the marathon, which was interrupted by the dramatic death of his best friend. Further in the text, the spectators become a tunnel, which means Brian is now the watercourse. Interesting, yes, but I'm stuck. Don't let the dichotomy between jeering and cheerin bother you - there are several gaps in logic to close.
My meager attempt:
A river of spectators jeered and cheered him - HIM? - on, commanding him to get up and running, to keep going and not give up...


Brian rappelte sich auf und schrie aus Leibeskräften: »CHRIS!«
Seine Wut, seine Trauer musste hinaus! Gebündelt, kraftvoll, trotzig, verzweifelnd …

Die Furt aus Zuschauern johlte, feuerte ihn – IHN? – an, forderte ihn auf, weiterzulaufen, zu kämpfen, nicht aufzugeben …
»Was wisst Ihr denn«, dachte Brian, und begann dennoch seine Füße wieder voreinander zu setzen. Wie in stummer Trance wurde er schneller, ließ sich von dem lauten Tunnel um ihn herum tragen, vorantreiben, anschieben …

So, my friends, let's hear what your brilliant minds have to say!
Proposed translations (English)
3 spectator maelstrom
3 +1 gauntlet
3 +1 phalanx of spectators
3 canyon
3 passage/ trails/ path/passageway etc of spectators
3 channel
2 shoal of spectators

Discussion

Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Jul 20, 2014:
MERCY!!!
Lancashireman Jul 20, 2014:
@BrigitteHilgner A maelstrom of church steeples in the mist: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/german_to_english/poetry_literatur...
Yorkshireman Jul 20, 2014:
Maelstrom Doesn't really bring it across for me - a gigantic and inescapable whirlpool that sucks in and destroys anything that gets too close - except in stories by Jules Verne and Edgar Allen Poe.
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Jul 20, 2014:
Hi Brigitte The author is very fond of using odd metaphors, so I'm caught in the dilemma of whether to retain this idiosyncracy or make 'ordinary' sense.
In this case, although it's a stretch, it's an opportunity to go with the author's quirk. In other cases this wasn't possible.
BrigitteHilgner Jul 20, 2014:
@Ramey Rieger I find "maelstrom" inappropriate in the context - spectators do not behave like the maelstrom in such a situation.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maelstrom
BrigitteHilgner Jul 20, 2014:
@ Anne Schulz Ich würde die Zuschauer eher als rotes Tuch betrachten ... (so wie die Stiere in Pamplona). ;.)
Horst Huber (X) Jul 19, 2014:
@Susanne Do dad i fei aa glei lossprintn!
@ Ramey --- "surge"?
Anne Schulz Jul 19, 2014:
"Ocean" - dann aber bitte gleich "a Red Sea of spectators" :-))
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Jul 19, 2014:
Yes Horst I could. Right now, and I hope I'm forgiven, I'm working around ocean of spectators and maelstrom.
Horst Huber (X) Jul 19, 2014:
@ Ramey Maybe you could search around the topography of watercourses, narrows, straits, troughs, gullies, culverts, defiles, gorges ...espacially since you need something for "Tunnel"?
Thayenga Jul 18, 2014:
@ Susanne Ja mei, warum denn? LOL
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Jul 18, 2014:
HAHA and HORRORS for the literary translator!
Susanne Schiewe Jul 18, 2014:
mitlol bei einer johlenden Furt wär i a glei furt ;-)
Anne Schulz Jul 18, 2014:
lol ...whereas I, myself, stick to surgical instructions and package leaflets where illogicality and ambiguity might be fatal :-))
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Jul 18, 2014:
@Brigitte Fortunately there are enough readers who do! I myself am dedicated to Louise Erdrich at the moment. My literary history is deeply anchored in the British romantics, Russian whatever - up to the 20th century, and of course the Americans from Steinbeck to Tom Robbins.
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Jul 18, 2014:
I couldn't agree more, Thayenga! And I thank my 'lucky stars' I can even earn money with it!
BrigitteHilgner Jul 18, 2014:
While he was fording the flood of spectators ... they yelled, cheered ...
To be honest, I agree with Anne Schulz: I wouldn't even want to read this book.
Thayenga Jul 18, 2014:
Such a book translation is a very interesting challenge and...fun. ;)
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Jul 18, 2014:
Ach, was! I'm enjoying myself immensely! The challenge is to create elegant logic, stick to the ST and make it flow, flow, flow. for some reason, I'm good at it!
Anne Schulz Jul 18, 2014:
I pity you, Ramey A story (or book) full of such linguistic "illogicisms" would kill me, for sure!

Proposed translations

18 hrs
Selected

spectator maelstrom

just to add to the fray

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Note added at 18 hrs (2014-07-19 05:08:41 GMT)
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or: sea of spectators

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Note added at 18 hrs (2014-07-19 05:09:50 GMT)
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not exactly "Furt" but common in English and might work

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Note added at 18 hrs (2014-07-19 05:18:51 GMT)
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"maelstrom" is circular but figuratively might stretch
Note from asker:
Thank you David! this is close to what I'm working with at the moment. Once more, it will be very hard to give points!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you everyone! It is always difficult to give points when so many excellent suggestions weave their ways through my thought processes, prodding, reproducing, perpetrating, producing the final solution. Which will never satisfy everyone. Here's my rendition: He found himself facing an ocean of jeering and cheering spectators, urging him – HIM? – onward and upward; demanding he keeping running, keep fighting... “What do you care?” Brian thought. Nonetheless, he set his feet in motion. Entranced, he sped up, diving into the maelstrom, letting himself be swept up, pushed forward, catapulted ahead. "
42 mins

canyon

...had to breach a canyon through a seething mass of cheering and jeering spectators
Note from asker:
Nice one, Yorkshireman! Thank you!
Something went wrong...
30 mins

passage/ trails/ path/passageway etc of spectators

You could use a pathway between (rows of) spectators.
A trails/path through the spectators.
Just for brainstorming. ;)

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Note added at 56 mins (2014-07-18 11:26:49 GMT)
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Hi Ramey,

well my first impulse was to the use term "ford", but... we shall see what our colleagues come up with. :)
Note from asker:
Hi Thayenga! Long time no 'see'. Thanks for your suggestion, brainstorming is what I really need at the moment! It would be nice to keep the 'water' aspect, as Brian's getting back in the 'flow' of things. Let's see what happens. Be well.
Yes, mine, too. but ford is commonly ussed as a verb in AE and I could twist it around elegantly enough to be logical. Yes, let's see.
Something went wrong...
+1
2 hrs
German term (edited): Furt

gauntlet

Definition of GAUNTLET

1
a : a double file of men facing each other and armed with clubs or other weapons with which to strike at an individual who is made to run between them —used with run
b : a line, series, or assemblage; especially : one that poses some sort of ordeal <a gauntlet of autograph-seekers>
2
: a severe trial : ordeal <ran the gauntlet of criticism and censure>
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gauntlet
Note from asker:
I really didn't expect anyone to come up with a single word to fit the context! Gauntlet is a very precise image, though negative, I would have to be as idiosyncratic as the author to turn it into a positive experience. Still, it can be done! Thank you Sir Andrew!
Peer comment(s):
agree David Hollywood : spectator gauntlet .. and very nice indeed
16 hrs
Thanks, David. A case of 'second time lucky' for maelstrom this week: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/german_to_english/poetry_literatur...
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

shoal of spectators

Just more brainstorming. Keeping up the watery theme with a bit of a double meaning thrown in for good measure.

A large number of fish swimming together
informal, chiefly British, A large number of people or things
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/shoal#s...
An area of shallow water
A submerged sandbank visible at low water
(usually shoals) A hidden danger or difficulty:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/shoal#s...

vadum - a shallow place, shallow, shoal, ford
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:19...
Note from asker:
ANOTHER one-word solution, watery as well and wonderfully playful! Thank you, Alison!
Something went wrong...
+1
9 hrs

phalanx of spectators

.. could work, whether the crowd is hostile or friendly
Note from asker:
Thank you Michael, and yes, it would work.
Peer comment(s):
agree Lioba Multer
115 days
Something went wrong...
9 hrs

channel

A channel of spectators does fit with the water idea...

I was also thinking "furrow" as running a marathon (of which I've run several) is totally a "plough"-like endeavor after the half-way point.
Note from asker:
Thank you Billcorno! Could you elucidate on furrow and plough? Are these typical marathon terms? I've yet to find a German-English dictionary with truly helpful translations of running sport terminology. Since this a thriller, I'm flexible, but it would be nice to use appropriate language!
Peer comment(s):
neutral Yorkshireman : "ploughed a furrow through a field of...spectators" sounds pretty good
1 day 15 hrs
If I was creating a furrow of spectators, that would be a problem. If the furrow was already there, it may be less of one?
Something went wrong...
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