English translation: in a rhetorical, performative style/manner
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08:28 Jun 30, 2011
German to English translations [PRO] Government / Politics
German term or phrase:rhetorisch-performativ
Wenn sie [Staaten] dennoch deklarativ vorgeben, es zu tun, handeln sie zweckgerichtet ideologisch, um einer objektiven Interessenlage rhetorisch-performativ und gestisch-emotional ein kommunikatives Fundament zu verschaffen, welches den Rezipienten solcher Kommunikation ermöglicht, sich weiterhin im falschen Bewußtsein über den realen Charakter der Verhältnisse zu wiegen.
This is from a journalistic article about the Middle East conflict
Explanation: I guess you will have to rewrite the sentence. Although these Staaten claim to do this (whatever it is) in a 'deklarativ' fashion, their communication style is, for ideological reasons, rhetorical and performative, gestural and emotional. (This is not a strict translation of the sentence obviously, just given for clarity's sake).
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 43 mins (2011-06-30 09:11:28 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
I would definitely argue for a retention of performative here - performativity is a key intellectual concept:
Performativity is an interdisciplinary term often used to name the capacity of speech and language in particular, as well as other non-verbal forms of expressive action, to intervene in the course of human events. The term derives from the work in speech act theory originated by the analytic philosopher J. L. Austin, who did not use the word "performativity," but did give the name performative utterances to situations where saying something was doing something, rather than simply reporting on or describing reality. A "performative utterance," Austin argued in How to Do Things With Words, cannot be said to be either true or false, as a constative utterance might be. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performativity
No need for bad humour - this is a text using the language of performance theory/performativity. I agree we don't have what the 'es' is in 'es zu tun' but I imagine it has to do with communication styles.
I might or might not pass on this one. I've got a tight deadline today, and I have to admit that such texts just put me inexplicably into a bad humour (though they also make me thankful I specialised in Anglo-American philosophy in college and not in the sort of stuff that produces the sort of language we see here). On the other hand, it's a bit of a challenge to turn the text into something readable in English. Hmmm... To get some sort of a handle on what they're saying, we definitely need to know what "es" is in "es zu tun", for a start.
Who are the target groups of this journalism? Middle East experts or communication theory experts? High-ranking diplomats?
I agree with the other comments that this is high-brow stuff. In my experience, these double adjectives/adverbs "rhetorisch-performativ" and "gestisch-emotional" which Germans like to use often appear stilted and clumsy in English if also translated as pairs joined with dash. Sometimes it is better to focus on one of the two adjectives in the pair and use a single English word to try and capture both. You have the context of the whole document to know where the emphasis should lie.
that's some journalistic article. It sounds hugely technical even for the most high-brow broadsheet.
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Answers
39 mins confidence:
rhetorical action
Explanation: And again:
When the States profess affirmatively to do it/this, they are dealing purposefully ideologically to creat a communicative foundation of rhetorical action and emotional gestures (functioning) as an objective sphere of interest.
Ramey Rieger Local time: 03:07 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
Explanation: I guess you will have to rewrite the sentence. Although these Staaten claim to do this (whatever it is) in a 'deklarativ' fashion, their communication style is, for ideological reasons, rhetorical and performative, gestural and emotional. (This is not a strict translation of the sentence obviously, just given for clarity's sake).
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 43 mins (2011-06-30 09:11:28 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
I would definitely argue for a retention of performative here - performativity is a key intellectual concept:
Performativity is an interdisciplinary term often used to name the capacity of speech and language in particular, as well as other non-verbal forms of expressive action, to intervene in the course of human events. The term derives from the work in speech act theory originated by the analytic philosopher J. L. Austin, who did not use the word "performativity," but did give the name performative utterances to situations where saying something was doing something, rather than simply reporting on or describing reality. A "performative utterance," Austin argued in How to Do Things With Words, cannot be said to be either true or false, as a constative utterance might be. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performativity
Helen Shiner United Kingdom Local time: 02:07 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 12
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peer agreement (net): +3
