English translation: marches of the European Union
Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.
The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2011-05-19 09:54:14 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
French to English translations [PRO] Social Sciences - Government / Politics / Geopolitics
French term or phrase:les 'marches' européennes
this is from a geopolitical piece about the EU's eastern borders. I am having difficulties decoding 'marches'
Here is the context:
"De ce point de vue, comprendre l’UE à partir de ses marges peut s’avérer éclairant, dans la mesure où « c’est aux périphéries que le sentiment d’appartenance à l’Europe ne va pas de soi ; c’est dans les ‘marches’ européennes qu’il suscite un questionnement exigeant, urgent, dont dépend parfois l’avenir des peuples et des individus »."
This is not a common use of the word "march" in English, but the word is used with this definition in the context of the European Union:
"[...] soon the European Union will enlarge to include Germany's eastern neighbors, most importantly and Lithuania. The cold war lasted for two generations; teh new divide between eastern and western Europe promises to last at least that long. This compels us to imagine decades during which Poland and Lithuania will become and soon remain the marches of the European Union. http://www7.georgetown.edu/sfs/publications/journal/Issues/w...
"Among the ten countries that joined the European Union on 1st May 2004, six were on its eastern marches: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Bulgaria and Romania were to follow in 2007 or 2008. The European Union thus acquired a new eastern border [...]" http://subtopia.blogspot.com/2007/07/fronteras.html
BTW, here's the online dictionary entry for this definition: march(2) –noun
1. a tract of land along a border of a country; frontier. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/march
Thank you very much for this insightful explanation. I was not familiar with the term being used in this way, but now that I see it, it makes perfect sense. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
Not super sure but I rather understand "marches Européennes" here as in "European progress" , as meaning the various processes which have led to the building of the EU and which still are at work shaping the EU year after year... That's the only way it makes sense to me so far. I understand it that way because I'm from a French territory labelled as peripheral and when there are political steps at work in Paris or Brussels which will also change things for people where I'm from (Martinique), being part of the EU is not a matter- of -fact thing there because people feel left out of the decision-making process...
What I remember from my history class in sixième (almost sixty years ago!) is that the Marches (capitalized in English, but not in French) were those territories on the edge of the Holy Roman Empire. (Hence, for instance, the original meaning of "marquis.")
This is not a common use of the word "march" in English, but the word is used with this definition in the context of the European Union:
"[...] soon the European Union will enlarge to include Germany's eastern neighbors, most importantly and Lithuania. The cold war lasted for two generations; teh new divide between eastern and western Europe promises to last at least that long. This compels us to imagine decades during which Poland and Lithuania will become and soon remain the marches of the European Union. http://www7.georgetown.edu/sfs/publications/journal/Issues/w...
"Among the ten countries that joined the European Union on 1st May 2004, six were on its eastern marches: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Bulgaria and Romania were to follow in 2007 or 2008. The European Union thus acquired a new eastern border [...]" http://subtopia.blogspot.com/2007/07/fronteras.html
BTW, here's the online dictionary entry for this definition: march(2) –noun
1. a tract of land along a border of a country; frontier. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/march
cc in nyc Local time: 12:08 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 15
Grading comment
Thank you very much for this insightful explanation. I was not familiar with the term being used in this way, but now that I see it, it makes perfect sense.
9 hrs confidence:
at the entryway steps
Explanation: In the context, focusing on the 'margins', 'the periphery', of Europe, the physical metaphor of 'steps' is, in my mind, the primary figure. "Les marches', meaning 'steps' is always plural. Since the expression is pointedly underlined with scare quotes, it is permissible to think the expression can be taken a number of ways. "La marche" is a walking "gate", or manner of walking, which would suggest how something works, in a coordinated way. I think a military 'march' is off the mark however; I can't see how that metaphor would serve?
Explanation: Bonjour,
Le terme "marches" de l'empire est issu de l'empire carolingien. Il désigne une province frontalière, confiée à un "margrave" (de l'allemand Markgraf, qui se traduit littéralement par « comte de la marche - le titre équivalent en Français est marquis), dotés de pouvoirs plus étendus que les nobles qui administraient des provinces plus centrales. Voir Web.Ref. 1
Le terme est conservé tel quel en anglais: voir Web.Ref. 2.
Le mieux me paraît donc être de faire de même !
Reference information: B. − P. ext. Toute province, région située en bordure d'un pays étranger ou d'une province voisine. Il faut aussi se le représenter [le peuplement] comme sporadique, c'est-à-dire avec des lacunes, des intervalles habituellement vides. (...) les marches frontières du désert nous offrent une image fidèle de cet état (Vidal de La Bl., Princ. géogr. hum., 1921, p. 277).
− P. métaph. Seuil, entrée. L'année en était alors aux marches de septembre (L. de Vilmorin, Belles am., 1954, p.181).
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +2
