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to be able to cross over

English translation: to have his painting cross the cultural boundary

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	to be able to cross over
English translation:	to have his painting cross the cultural boundary
Entered by:	Stephanie Ezrol

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10:02 Aug 25, 2011

English to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

English term or phrase: to be able to cross over

Please explain the meaning of this phrase in the following paragraph. The last part of the paragraph seems to be a metaphor. What does it mean?

In a letter to a friend, Rabindranath Tagore wrote that it would surprise her to learn the entire story of how the once-poet Rabindranath's current identity was that of a painter and informed her of the inauguration of his exhibition in Europe, mentioning that the harvest at the year-end had been collected together on these foreign shores. But he would prefer to leave them behind, considering it fortunate that he had been able to cross over with these from the ferry-wharf of his own land.

charoen KudoZ activity Questions: 38 (none open) (1 without valid answers) Answers: 70
Local time: 09:09

to have his painting cross the cultural boundary

Explanation:
I do think that the author is using the standard English phrase ironically/metaphorically. While it is true that the did physically "cross over" - travel from India to Europe for an exhibit of his paintings, the irony or metaphor is in the fact that his paintings were more accessible to Europeans (crossed over the cultural boundary) in Europe than his poetry (for which he was most famous) that did not as easily cross over that same cultural boundary.

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Note added at 1 hr (2011-08-25 11:41:45 GMT)
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HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF CROSS OVER IN THE NONE PHYSICAL SENSE:

The value and collectibility of individual books are greatly affected if they cross over into popular culture
http://1stedition.net/factors/popculture.html

Recent forays into rock by Renee Fleming and classical music by Sting have revived the spotlight on artists crossing from one musical genre to another. But neither opera empress nor pop icon embody crossover music quite like 28-year-old David Garrett.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/08/when-...

The specific focus of their work is the
apparent failure of Caribbean food to cross-over
into the British ‘mainstream
http://www.geo.ntnu.edu.tw/faculty/moise/words/information/e...

Selected response from:

Stephanie Ezrol
United States
Local time: 22:09

Grading comment

Thanks a lot, Stephanie. My thanks also go to Liz and all discussants, especially amarpaul for the helpful link.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +1

to be able to cross over from India to Europe

Liz Broomfield

3 +1

to have his painting cross the cultural boundary

Stephanie Ezrol

Discussion entries: 7

Jenni Lukac

09:25 Aug 26, 2011

Really nice link, amarpaul. Thank you!

amarpaul

India

It seems metaphorical to me too ...

08:01 Aug 26, 2011

Tagore was (I think) surprised at the acclaim his paintings received. And he was happy to leave the works behind (i.e. overseas) in a place where their value was truly appreciated. For the full story of the discovery of Tagore's talent as a painter see [http://www.indiapicks.com/Indianart/Articles/R_Tagore_Artist...].

Stephanie Ezrol

United States

13:51 Aug 25, 2011

I think that in this case the context more than the syntax is crucial. This short piece of biographical information on Rabindranath Tagore, who was certainly more famous for his poetry, helps in understanding the context. http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/rabindranath-tagore-...

Martin Riordan

Brazil

13:32 Aug 25, 2011

The context is very incomplete, and relates the contents of the letter in the third person, rather than quoting/translating it directly. Even the very existence of paintings has to be inferred from the statement that the man had been a painter. So one has to be creative in this situation! And I know what it´s like to fear the men in uniforms at a border...

Jenni Lukac

13:25 Aug 25, 2011

If the rules of syntax are thrown out the window, Martin is probably correct. He could be talking about paintings.

Martin Riordan

Brazil

cross over

13:20 Aug 25, 2011

His good fortune in "crossing over with these" (which seems to refer to the paintings) may simply refer to the practical difficulties of crossing national boundaries with goods which could be subject to theft, seizure, customs duties, etc. So he may want to leave them where they are so as not to run the risk again.

Jenni Lukac

10:14 Aug 25, 2011

The "them" and "these" in last sentence make it somewhat confusing. As the only preceding plural subject is foreign shores, one must assume that "them" refers to foreign shores, unless the writer has made an error of syntax. However the "these" is mysterious without more context. "Cross over" seems to refer to traveling -- move from one place to another, here, a body of water.

Answers

9 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

to be able to cross over from India to Europe

Explanation:
He's saying that he had been able to bring his paintings from India to Europe in order to exhibit them (they were "harvested" in India then exhibited in Europe) but that that had satisfied him and he was happy now to leave the paintings to concentrate on other things.

Liz Broomfield
United Kingdom
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 28

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

to have his painting cross the cultural boundary

Stephanie Ezrol
United States
Local time: 22:09
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 132

Grading comment

Thanks a lot, Stephanie. My thanks also go to Liz and all discussants, especially amarpaul for the helpful link.

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Changes made by editors

Aug 26, 2011 - Changes made by Stephanie Ezrol:
Created KOG entry	KudoZ term => KOG term

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English translation: to have his painting cross the cultural boundary

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English translation: to have his painting cross the cultural boundary

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KudoZ™ translation helpThe KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

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