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09:34 Nov 12, 2010
French to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - History
French term or phrase:l'Homme des cités
Hi
To a certain extent, this means "civilised Man" which I suppose is a possible translation although other ideas are very welcome.
This "Homme des cités" is discussed after "l'Homme primitif" and in my text begins with the Mesopotamians then Egyptians.
Explanation: Remember that cité in FR doesn't not connote town, it refers to the historic centre of a city -- think of The City area of London. Civilization began in cities -- for e.g. some people argue that even agriculture did not start until people lived in dense concentrations preventing hunting/gathering from providing sufficient food. That is why I think it is important to emphasizing urbanity (and hinting at the En term urbane) in response to the term cités.
Polis, for those who recognize the term, might seem to focus only on ancient Greece -- I think the time period referred to is prior to classical era.
que si l'auteur a choisi l'expression "homme des cités", qui n'est pas très courante, c'est justement pour éviter l'adjectif "civilisé", par trop connoté. Un détour par Leo Strauss - La cité et l'homme - ne serait peut-être pas inutile.
The text was written probably around a fortnight ago and isn't a sociological or even philosophical piece. It is about the history of timekeeping and makes brief reference in its opening pages to the awareness of time of "l'homme primitif" and "l'homme des cités." I prefer to say as little as possible as it hasn't been published yet in French.
The use of this term is fraught with problems and should be only used within its historical context. An example here where such terms have to be used as they were the terms employed by a particular anthropologist (barbarian): The nineteenth century anthropologists Lewis Henry Morgan and E.B. Tylor, among others, popularized a tripartite division of mankind into three phases: the savage, the barbarian and the civilized, placing the barbarian in the potent position of being free from civilization's evils while transcending those of the truly savage state. Twentieth-century idealization of the barbarian as exemplified by the Celtic "Cimmerian," Rober E. Howard's Conan, develops these traits further. Representing the wildness of nature as an antidote to the decadence and poverty of civilization, he is a powerful individual acting without inhibitions or constraints, and thus an appropriate hero for urban man who sees himself as the helpless victim of forces beyond his control. http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/Barbarians/Essays/approaches.h...
Agree with Gilla. Is the word "civilisation" (i.e. the settlement of humankind into established dwellings of towns/cities/etc. and the organisation of "civilised" life therein) defined? If so, I think this would be the best term - or maybe add a footnote?
I think "civilised man" is often used in counterpoint to "primitive man" or "early man". This is closer to the original meaning of the word "civilised" and therefore slightly ambiguous, but in context might be the best translation.
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Answers
10 mins confidence:
town dwellers/city dwellers
Explanation: Suggestion.
Gad Kohenov Local time: 19:10 Specializes in field Native speaker of: French, Hebrew PRO pts in category: 2
Explanation: "The Platonic-Aristotelian man is the man of the polis and is, even for Aristotle, tied to the omphalos [belly-button] of Delphi ; precisely from the Hellenic position, a universal political science is radically impossible. Christianity and historical consciousness seem rather to be steps in the direction of the universalization of the image of man" - Eric Voegelin in "Letter to Leo Strauss ( 9 December, 1942 )," in Faith and Political Philosophy: The Correspondence Between Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin, 1934-1964, 9.
Many other examples on the Web
Imanol Local time: 18:10 Native speaker of: French
Explanation: Remember that cité in FR doesn't not connote town, it refers to the historic centre of a city -- think of The City area of London. Civilization began in cities -- for e.g. some people argue that even agriculture did not start until people lived in dense concentrations preventing hunting/gathering from providing sufficient food. That is why I think it is important to emphasizing urbanity (and hinting at the En term urbane) in response to the term cités.
Polis, for those who recognize the term, might seem to focus only on ancient Greece -- I think the time period referred to is prior to classical era.
Joshua Wolfe Local time: 12:10 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
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Thank you. I think this is certainly the most appropriate solution in my context.
The translation workplace 
