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17th Translation Contest: "The Sounds of Silence" » English to Swedish

Competition in this pair is now closed, and the winning entry has been announced.

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Source text in English

A theme of the age, at least in the developed world, is that people crave silence and can find none. The roar of traffic, the ceaseless beep of phones, digital announcements in buses and trains, TV sets blaring even in empty offices, are an endless battery and distraction. The human race is exhausting itself with noise and longs for its opposite—whether in the wilds, on the wide ocean or in some retreat dedicated to stillness and concentration. Alain Corbin, a history professor, writes from his refuge in the Sorbonne, and Erling Kagge, a Norwegian explorer, from his memories of the wastes of Antarctica, where both have tried to escape.

And yet, as Mr Corbin points out in "A History of Silence", there is probably no more noise than there used to be. Before pneumatic tyres, city streets were full of the deafening clang of metal-rimmed wheels and horseshoes on stone. Before voluntary isolation on mobile phones, buses and trains rang with conversation. Newspaper-sellers did not leave their wares in a mute pile, but advertised them at top volume, as did vendors of cherries, violets and fresh mackerel. The theatre and the opera were a chaos of huzzahs and barracking. Even in the countryside, peasants sang as they drudged. They don’t sing now.

What has changed is not so much the level of noise, which previous centuries also complained about, but the level of distraction, which occupies the space that silence might invade. There looms another paradox, because when it does invade—in the depths of a pine forest, in the naked desert, in a suddenly vacated room—it often proves unnerving rather than welcome. Dread creeps in; the ear instinctively fastens on anything, whether fire-hiss or bird call or susurrus of leaves, that will save it from this unknown emptiness. People want silence, but not that much.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 9 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 3 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (9 total; 3 finalists) Expand all entries

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Language variants:
Entry #22975 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
347 x43 x20
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.003.00 (10 ratings)3.00 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 2 users agreed with "likes" (2 total agrees)
+2
platser där båda har försökt komma undan
Flows well
Axel Sjögren
Entry #23774 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
193 x41 x25 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.122.91 (11 ratings)3.33 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 2 users agreed with "likes" (3 total agrees)
+1
öronbedövande
Flows well
Vera Schoen
+2
upptar det utrymme som tystnaden skulle kunna fylla
Flows well
Pell
Entry #22444 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Rikssvenska
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
1104 x23 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.283.30 (10 ratings)3.25 (8 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 2 users disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
-2
1
digitala tillkännagivanden på bussar och tåg
Flows well
Snyggt
Vera Schoen
återger minnen
Flows well
Anja Wedberg


Non-finalist entries

The following entries were not selected by peers to advance to finals-round voting.

Entry #24227 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.792.82 (11 ratings)2.75 (8 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
+1
surrade bussar och tåg av prat
Flows well
Vera Schoen
Entry #23665 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.602.64 (11 ratings)2.56 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
tystnaden breder ut sig
Flows well
Anja Wedberg
Entry #24310 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.402.30 (10 ratings)2.50 (8 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 3 users disagreed with "likes" (3 total disagrees)
-3
2
krängde
Good term selection
Vera Schoen
Entry #23935 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.262.22 (9 ratings)2.29 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 3 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (3 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
+1
Vi lever i en tid då många, åtminstone i världens industrialiserade länder, förgäves söker efter tystnad.
Flows well
Axel Sjögren
+1
i ett
Good term selection
Vera Schoen
-1
+1
"Histoire du silence" (Tystnadens historia)
Other
Good solut​ion. There​ is no rea​son to use​ the Engli​sh title, ​as the oth​er transla​tors have ​done.
Axel Sjögren
Entry #23918 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Rikssvenska
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.881.75 (4 ratings)2.00 (3 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
+1
men i lagom dos.
Good term selection
Vera Schoen
Entry #22991 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.591.50 (4 ratings)1.67 (3 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
framträder en annan paradox
Flows well
Anna Norman