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des veaux/dévots
OG
Dec 3, 2013 10:40
10 yrs ago
French term

...l'obstination du témoignage...

French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature camus quote
« Qui répondrait en ce monde à la terrible obstination du crime, si ce n’est l’obstination du témoignage ? »
Albert Camus, Actuelles II.

I need the whole quote, but I have only included a few words in the term box due to the Kudoz restriction on the number of words.

This quote is used in reference to a WWII memorial in France. The web brings up varying versions of this in French.

I am having a terrible time finding a "standard" existing translation. I think I will leave the original with translation in brackets. As far as I can tell, Actuelles II has not been translated.

Maybe someone out there with better search skills can help me find an existing translation? I am unfortunately on a tight deadline (EOB today).

In the meantime, I have worked this out: Only the persistence of remembrance can counter the persistence of crime. Does that sound good? Any suggestions for improvement?
Proposed translations (English)
3 +1 there is no better way to prevent the terrible recurrence of this crime than to keep on remembering
3 steadfast in protest
3 resolute testimony, persistant/persistance of witnessing
3 stubbornness of the testimony
2 ...obstinacy for testimony...

Discussion

Lori Cirefice (asker) Dec 8, 2013:
@philgoddard I know, but when there is an existing, well-known translation, I like to use it! For this kind of quote, I always search first.
kashew Dec 4, 2013:
Camus writings, for next time: http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/camus_albert/actuelles_...
Sorry, I don't have time to find the passage you suffered with.
philgoddard Dec 3, 2013:
Lori There's no need to find someone else's translation to copy. There is no definitive, set-in-stone version, so you can make up your own.
Lori Cirefice (asker) Dec 3, 2013:
many thanks for the VERY helpful comments and discussion. I wish I had had more time to think about it, but the job had to be delivered and I went with "What better response to the dreadful persistence of crime, than the persistence of remembrance"
Lorraine Dubuc Dec 3, 2013:
Je trouve que la phrase de Carol rend très bien l'idée de se souvenir....la persistance du témoignage que la mémoire entretient dans le temps...
Helen Shiner Dec 3, 2013:
@ormiston Ok, then I'm reading it slightly differently to you. I think it is calling for witnesses to be persistent in their witnessing, not that their witness statements persist over time.
ormiston Dec 3, 2013:
Helen It's the (rhetorical) 'qui' + 'obstination du témoignage' that flummoxes me. The witness(es) are not themselves persistent, rather their account.
Helen Shiner Dec 3, 2013:
@Lorraine that formulation in EN does not exclude the witness being many witnesses. It is just more elegant in the singular (in my view).
Helen Shiner Dec 3, 2013:
@ormiston Difficult to know how to encompass the 'who' otherwise since it presupposes a person. But witness testimony can be recorded in many ways and thus can 'live' on.
Lorraine Dubuc Dec 3, 2013:
'Who will respond to the dreadful persistence of crime, if not the persistent witness?'

why not then witnesses?

ormiston is right...maybe replacing witness by memory or testimony would give it a better meaning.
ormiston Dec 3, 2013:
that does sound good although witnesses die off and it is the telling that lives on
Helen Shiner Dec 3, 2013:
@ormiston Who will respond to the dreadful persistence of crime, if not the persistent witness?
ormiston Dec 3, 2013:
although the translation cited gives 'who' 'qui' here = 'qu'est-ce qui'.
Lorraine Dubuc Dec 3, 2013:
persistant is indeed the right idea
@Sheri: very good reference! (link)
Sheri P Dec 3, 2013:
@Lori I think your entire translation is good I also like Helen's "persistence of witnessing." Here's a fairly literal translation I found:
Who will answer in this world to the terrible persistence of crime if there is no persistence of witnessing?
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/justiceon...
ormiston Dec 3, 2013:
I think your 'persistence' is good with its connotations of the 'persistence of memory'

Proposed translations

+1
1 hr
Selected

there is no better way to prevent the terrible recurrence of this crime than to keep on remembering

recurrence, repetition, ...etc

This is NOT an official translation, but is my interpretation. Given the context you provide, I'm assuming that "le crime" is that of WWII, and that only by not forgetting the carnage (through the memorial) can we prevent another similar war. It's about the importance of remembering or never forgetting both the act of war and the dead...

Btw, I ran out of words, but you could (optionally) add "it" at the end , and of course rephrase the whole thing if you're looking for something neater. Here, I was aiming for a translation that replicated all the elements of the ST
Peer comment(s):
agree Lorraine Dubuc : I like your sentence
3 hrs
thank you Lorraine :)
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks Carol, I really like your take on it!"
23 mins

...obstinacy for testimony...

This is one of two possibilities I've found, but I like your translation better!
Example sentence:

"What would answer in this world to the terrible obstinacy for crime ; if not obstinacy for testimony ?"

Reference:

http://www.musicora.ch/detail.asp?artid=72826

Something went wrong...
43 mins

steadfast in protest

As in; http://fidh-omct.org/human-rights-defenders/reports-and-publ...

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Note added at 44 minutes (2013-12-03 11:25:14 GMT)
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"obstination" is to be avoided, having a negative sense often.
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56 mins

resolute testimony, persistant/persistance of witnessing

I think 'witnessing' is very fitting for Camus's take on the world: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=htFug5WlN3kC&pg=PA114&lpg...

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Note added at 57 mins (2013-12-03 11:38:25 GMT)
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That'll be persistence NOT persistAnce, of course. Excuse typo.

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Note added at 58 mins (2013-12-03 11:39:09 GMT)
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And persistEnt - horror!! Not enough coffee.

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Note added at 1 hr (2013-12-03 11:41:48 GMT)
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Other suggestions: tenaciousness of crime/tenacious witnessing?
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

stubbornness of the testimony

obstination au sens d'acharnement en français

une idée

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Note added at 5 heures (2013-12-03 15:55:34 GMT)
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le témoignage qui perdure dans le temps, que les gens perpétuent et gardent vivant, je crois que c'est ça l'idée.
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