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sisifismo

English translation: unceasing and fruitless labour

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Italian term or phrase:sisifismo
English translation:unceasing and fruitless labour
Entered by: Sonia Hill

13:55 Aug 30, 2005
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Philosophy
Italian term or phrase: sisifismo
From an essay on population growth: “invece che spossarsi in vani sforzi per tenere testa al principio di popolazione, l’uomo dovrà rinunciare ad accrescere la popolazione e la ricchezza e frenare deliberatamente il sisifismo economico”, poiché lo stato stazionario del numero degli uomini e della quantità delle ricchezze non si estende a un’immobilità del progresso umano.
Sonia Hill
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:51
rein in the culture of working ceaselessly for money as Sisyphus did in the ancient Greek myth
Explanation:
It depends on the register: the word 'sisyphism' does exist, but most people wouldn't understand it. You could use it in a high register academic text, particularly if it is to be read by classicists; for the rest of us, it needs to be paraphrased.

The OED defines 'sisyphism' as 'unceasing and fruitless labour', which would be an option.

Somethings like 'rein in the culture of working ceaselessly for money as Sisyphus did in the ancient Greek myth' could work here - more readers can handle references like this if we are given a helping hand.



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Note added at 49 mins (2005-08-30 14:44:39 GMT)
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My suggestion needs a comma after money.

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Note added at 1 hr 57 mins (2005-08-30 15:52:21 GMT)
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If we can find out what our translation will be used for, it is our job to produce a translation which is fit for that purpose. Sometimes a close translation which may look odd in the target text is needed, but sometimes it is our job to act as cultural intermediaries. We need to find out what our customers want, educate them about what is possible and supply what will best meet their needs.

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Note added at 6 hrs 26 mins (2005-08-30 20:21:37 GMT)
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In response to Russell's comment: 'frenare deliberatamente il sisifismo economico' - 'make a deliberate effort to put the brakes on the economic culture of working as hard and fruitlessly as Sisyphus.' Another possibility.
Selected response from:

Jane Griffiths (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:51
Grading comment
Thanks for your very detailed answer. I particularly liked your last suggestion.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4rein in the culture of working ceaselessly for money as Sisyphus did in the ancient Greek myth
Jane Griffiths (X)
4sisyphism
------ (X)


  

Answers


10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
sisyphism


Explanation:
Bryan Caplan, Mises and Bastiat on How Democracy Goes Wrong, Part ... - [ Traduzca esta página ]
Out of all the sophisms Bastiat ridicules, the crudest is "Sisyphism," (named
after the mythological character condemned to eternal, fruitless toil in ...
www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2003/CaplanBastiat.html - 24k - En caché - Páginas similares

------ (X)
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in SpanishSpanish
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48 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
rein in the culture of working ceaselessly for money as Sisyphus did in the ancient Greek myth


Explanation:
It depends on the register: the word 'sisyphism' does exist, but most people wouldn't understand it. You could use it in a high register academic text, particularly if it is to be read by classicists; for the rest of us, it needs to be paraphrased.

The OED defines 'sisyphism' as 'unceasing and fruitless labour', which would be an option.

Somethings like 'rein in the culture of working ceaselessly for money as Sisyphus did in the ancient Greek myth' could work here - more readers can handle references like this if we are given a helping hand.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 49 mins (2005-08-30 14:44:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

My suggestion needs a comma after money.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 57 mins (2005-08-30 15:52:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

If we can find out what our translation will be used for, it is our job to produce a translation which is fit for that purpose. Sometimes a close translation which may look odd in the target text is needed, but sometimes it is our job to act as cultural intermediaries. We need to find out what our customers want, educate them about what is possible and supply what will best meet their needs.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs 26 mins (2005-08-30 20:21:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In response to Russell's comment: 'frenare deliberatamente il sisifismo economico' - 'make a deliberate effort to put the brakes on the economic culture of working as hard and fruitlessly as Sisyphus.' Another possibility.

Jane Griffiths (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:51
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks for your very detailed answer. I particularly liked your last suggestion.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  ------ (X): Do you think all italians know the meaning of "sisifismo"?/I suppose most readers of this essay will not need a "reader friendly" transcription but a correct translation. I think it's not our job to judge the intelligence of readers we do not know.
17 mins
  -> No, most of them wouldn't, but Italian texts are often written in a more high-falutin' style than English ones (even academic English), so we sometimes have to make them a bit more reader-friendly. It's a cultural difference between Italy and the UK.
agree  Elizabeth Lyons: I agree Jane and this goes double for the USA. : )
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Elizabeth.
agree  Russell Jones: I agree with Jane's approach but Sisyphus didn't "work for money"; he was condemned by the Gods to push a boulder uphill and it always rolled down again.
3 hrs
  -> That's true, Russell, I see your point. I'll think about it a little more. Thanks.
agree  CLS Lexi-tech: Sisifo is well known to Italian, we say currently "fare la fatica di Sisifo" even if Sisifo is not completely trasparent. And right on on the role of translators; this is called adaptation in industry parlance.
4 hrs
  -> Thank you, Paola.
agree  paolamonaco: mi piace molto la tua ultima versione :-)
1 day 11 hrs
  -> Grazie, Paola.
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