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roman miroir

English translation: contemporary novel


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04:25 Jul 8, 2011
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
French term or phrase: roman miroir
Galapagos accueillera en 2012 des livres d'autres genres: Polar, roman miroir, poésie, humour…

Je saisis de quoi il s'agit: Un roman reflétant le contexte social, historique et culturel d'une époque. Quelle est l'équivalence en anglais? Merci de vos suggestions!
Barbara Clark
United States
Local time: 09:15
English translation:contemporary novel
Explanation:
Could this be the term you're looking for? "contemporary" is usually used to describe the work of modern, but probably not literary, fiction.
Selected response from:

Teresa Quinn
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:15
Grading comment
Yes! Thank you very much for your help and patience while I was deciding on the most helpful answer... Thanks everybody for all the suggestions.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +1contemporary novel
Teresa Quinn
4Novel in a realist style
LaraBarnett
4novel of manners
ormiston
3novel of education/novel of formationreorient
3mirror of life
DLyons
3realist novel
Andrea R
3sociological novel/non-fiction novel/naturalistic novelbigmimi
3 -1representational novel
kirty koonjbeeharry
Summary of reference entries provided
*Roman miroir* as a genre of adolescent/young adult fiction
Sam Cogdell

Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
roman mirroir
mirror of life


Explanation:
See links


    Reference: http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%2...
DLyons
Ireland
Local time: 14:15
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Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 1
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
roman mirroir
realist novel


Explanation:
or more precisely, and perhaps more modern, psychological novel

It seems to derive from Stendhal's assertion: « un roman c'est un miroir que l'on promène le long du chemin »


    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_novel
    Reference: http://www.jose-corti.fr/titreslesessais/stendhal-roman.html
Andrea R
France
Local time: 15:15
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
roman mirroir
contemporary novel


Explanation:
Could this be the term you're looking for? "contemporary" is usually used to describe the work of modern, but probably not literary, fiction.

Teresa Quinn
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Yes! Thank you very much for your help and patience while I was deciding on the most helpful answer... Thanks everybody for all the suggestions.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard: I can't see any of the other suggestions written above a shelf in a bookstore.
5 hrs

agree  Just Opera: or contemporary fiction i.e. the list is detective novel, contemporary fiction, poetry, humour
5 hrs

neutral  Jim Tucker: Hard to see this as a genre rather than an objective historical description.
8 hrs

disagree  reorient: I think this is a very broad and general term whereas roman miroir is much more specific.
2 days22 hrs
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
roman mirroir
representational novel


Explanation:
le roman miroir est un roman qui nous demontre la realité (de notre époque)


kirty koonjbeeharry
Local time: 17:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in Creoles & Pidgins (French-based Other)Creoles & Pidgins (French-based Other), Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  LaraBarnett: This sounds a bit odd when describing different genres of literature/writing - i.e. odd sounding collocation.
1 hr
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
roman mirroir
Novel in a realist style


Explanation:
I don't think this literally means books from the era of "realism", in this context. I think here it is using the term as a genre to be considered along with "poetry, comedy" etc. or the term realist novel would have been used. i.e. this genre of writing can still be written today.

Example sentence(s):
  • " De Balzac à Zola, et quelles que soient les différences qu'il comporte, le roman se propose d'être comme le MIROIR du XIXe siècle. Waterloo est raconté dans Les Misérables , il l'avait été dans La Chartreuse de Parme. La révolution de 1848 éta

    Reference: http://www.ed4web.collegeem.qc.ca/prof/rthomas/textes/existe...
LaraBarnett
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:15
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Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
roman mirroir
novel of manners


Explanation:
this does seem to be the most appropriate conventional name for this genre:

novel of manners (literature) -- Britannica Online Encyclopediawww.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/362568/novel-of-manners - CachedSimilar
novel of manners (literature), work of fiction that re-creates a social world, conveying with finely detailed observation the customs, values, and mores of ...




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Note added at 10 hrs (2011-07-08 15:15:55 GMT)
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I agree with Phil that we are looking for a 'genre' so nothing fancy but my suggestion came from an 'offical' list of genres (though can't say I've seen it in Waterstones!)

ormiston
Local time: 15:15
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PRO pts in category: 24
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
roman mirroir
novel of education/novel of formation


Explanation:
As the case of Thomas Mann's Zauberberg shows, "Bildungsroman" or novel of education/novel of formation can be the equivalent to roman miroir, although probably not in all cases. Another example would be Stendhal's novel The Red and the Black which is frequently classified as "Bildungsroman".

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Note added at 11 hrs (2011-07-08 15:48:55 GMT)
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This would also fit in with the references Sam Cogdell provided.

Example sentence(s):
  • La Montagne magique est un roman miroir où l\'on peut déchiffrer tous les grands thèmes de notre époque.

    Reference: http://www.amazon.fr/Montagne-magique-Thomas-Mann/dp/2253057...
    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Mountain
reorient
Local time: 16:15
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Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
roman mirroir
sociological novel/non-fiction novel/naturalistic novel


Explanation:
I'd opt for "naturalistic novel" reminding me of E.Zola's "slice of life".

bigmimi
Local time: 09:15
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 4
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Reference comments


10 hrs
Reference: *Roman miroir* as a genre of adolescent/young adult fiction

Reference information:
This won't help resolve the translation issue, but here are a few references to *roman miroir* as a genre of adolescent fiction in France and Québec.

At: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7023/is_31/ai_n2812405...

"In Di Cecco's corpus, the predominance of the *roman-miroir,* in which the adolescent reader can see a reflection of her own life, suggests an emphasis on introspection. It would be interesting to see statistics on the reading habits of adolescent girls, showing the relative place of *romans-miroirs* to other popular genres, such as historical novels as well as detective and horror fiction.

"Tout d'abord, le *roman miroir*, dont la durée romanesque est brève et le cadre connu, se donne pour mission de peindre le quotidien des adolescents, à travers ce qu'ils aiment (nourriture, vêtements, idoles) et de mettre en scène leurs problèmes existentiels, dont le recherce de l'amour n'est qu'un aspect."

http://books.google.com/books?id=zEE2IvQTvusC&pg=PA11&dq=&qu...

Example sentence(s):
  • "Tout d'abord, le *roman miroir*, dont la durée romanesque est brève et le cadre connu, se donne pour mission de peindre le quotidien des adolescents
  • Les prix en littérature jeunesse. Le premier Prix Ado-Livres du *roman-miroir* a été attribué, dans le cadre du Salon de Montreuil, à Star-crossed lovers de Mikaël Ollivier (éditions Thierry Magnier), couronné parmi 7 œuvres destinées aux adoles

    Reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=zEE2IvQTvusC&pg=PA11&dq=&qu...
    Reference: http://www.ricochet-jeunes.org/les-prix/pays/belgique/prix/1...
Sam Cogdell
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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Changes made by editors
Jul 9, 2011 - Changes made by Yolanda Broad:
Term askedroman mirroir => roman miroir


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