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German to English translations [PRO] Social Sciences - History
German term or phrase:Ein Herd der Feindschaft
It is part of the title of a book Ein Herd der Feindschaft gegen Russland Galizien als Krisenherd in den Beziehungen der Donaumonarchie mit Russland which I tentatively translated as A Source of Hostility towards Russia [..]. However, the word "source" does not seem to convey the idea adequately. The accurate and natural collocation for hostility would be "outbreak" but it does not appear to fit here as you will see. I wonder if you could offer better solutions.
Explanation: "hotbed" has a meaning similar to the German "Brutstätte". And as heat is included, the metaphor seems to be a good translation for "Herd".
Just a little remark about the association of "Herd" with illness: "Herd" can be used as a metaphor for and in combination with all sorts of things, in the same sense as "incubator" might be used: for nurturing something (usually bad) that develops slowly, growing/spreading from a small centre into something big like a leavened cake. Examples: Feuerherd, Krisenherd, Krankheitsherd. A more precise meaning is added in all these cases by the specifying additional nouns.
Illness is not implied in the metaphor "Herd" as such and I don't see it implied in this text. Even if I mentioned "Brutstätte" as an example, I would avoid using anything indicating "illness" in a political context.
Thank you, everybody .... The thing is I am trying to retain the Krankheit association... "Source" is too broad and the idea conveyed in the German original would be as good as lost..... I see we are getting some suggestions other than "source".......
I don't think words like "source" and "origins" are strong enough. Also, you really need to find two words, as Herd is used both in the title and subtitle - this would be bad writing in English.
I just looked up source in my thesaurus and got origins as a possibility. Also some meanings relating to springs which could work in a figurative sense, eg. wellspring, fountainhead. I know that's moving a lot further from the original, but I can see how they could be used to fit both instances in your title, so thought it might be worth considering
I'm with Brigitte on Herd = Krankheitsherd. And the other translations of Krankheitsherd - seat, for example - definitely don't work here. Source is OK, I think. It would e interesting to know more about the era the book is from and its political leanings. I'm half-wondering if something with poison would work. How much influence do you have on the final published title? Sometimes I offer customers one title which is very close to the original and one which is further away but seems to work better.
"Source" is the translation of "Krankheitsherd", i.e. the point from which a disease is spreading through one's body. I think your text tries to convey the same idea.
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30 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +11
A hotbed of hostility
Explanation: "hotbed" has a meaning similar to the German "Brutstätte". And as heat is included, the metaphor seems to be a good translation for "Herd".
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +11