le savoir créer

English translation: Creative skills

08:28 Oct 31, 2019
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
French term or phrase: le savoir créer
One of those "savoir" phrases the French seem to love!

The context is fine craftsmanship, described as "l'excellence du savoir-faire et du savoir créer, autrement dit une expression de talent, de technique et de créativité".

The expression is repeated in the next paragraph: "les valeurs du savoir créer et du savoir-faire se fondent sur une légitimation historique et culturelle".

I need a solution that works for both "savoir-faire" and "savoir créer".

Thank you.
Sandra Petch
Local time: 04:06
English translation:Creative skills
Explanation:
I would translate this as "know-how and creative skills", the distinction between "savoir créer" and "créativité" being that the former is the skills to bring about abstract creative ideas and the latter (créativité) the abstract creative thought/idea itself.
Selected response from:

Gareth Callagy
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:06
Grading comment
Thank you to everyone. I went with technical skills (the know-how a craftsperson would learn through training) and creative skills.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5Creativity
Yvonne Gallagher
4 +1creative knowledge
B D Finch
4 +1creative flair
Helen Hagon
3 +1the savoir-faire to make and create
Luna Jungblut
4Creative skills
Gareth Callagy
4Workmanship
Michael Ost
3knowing how to create
Rebecca Breekveldt
3artistry OR [reword sentence]
Wolf Draeger
2creativity and artistic skill
Stephanie Benoist


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
knowing how to create


Explanation:
If you want to play with the idea of 'know-how', maybe something like 'the know-how and the know-how-to-create'.

Otherwise, I would maybe go from there and expand it to 'the values of knowing how to do and knowing how to create...' (or the ability to do and to create). I think that way they work together and in both the contexts you shared.

Hope it helps!

Rebecca Breekveldt
Austria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Carol Gullidge: ...not really! "the ability to do"??
4 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
le savoir-faire et le savoir créer
the savoir-faire to make and create


Explanation:
Hi Sandra,

Just a suggestion that I think has a nice ring to it.

I would personally change the sentence structure slightly, i.e.:
- The savoir-faire/know-how/skill/ability/expertise to make and create

"l'excellence du savoir-faire et du savoir créer...": "the expertise to make and create..."
"les valeurs du savoir créer et du savoir-faire se fondent...": "The values of this know-how find their source..." or something along those lines.

Have a lovely day,




Luna Jungblut
United Kingdom
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: French

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Wolf Draeger: I like the practical/abstract juxtaposition of "make and create"—perhaps "...knowing how to make and create with excellence..."?
28 mins
  -> Thank you!

neutral  Carol Gullidge: I actually find this a bit clunky - To me, this sounds clunky :( ...both the "savoir-faire to make" and the "savoir-faire to create", but together it sounds worse// ha ha, nice try! You could say that about any translation that misses the mark!
1 hr
  -> It is a little long indeed, but it was also a way of foreignising the text, if our Asker wants to.

neutral  philgoddard: This is a tautology.
3 hrs
  -> An intentional one :)
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
Creativity


Explanation:
That includes know-how or knowing how to create

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2019-10-31 10:30:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

So I think either
expertise and creativity or
savoir faire and creativity or even
skills, talent and creativity
match the French idea

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 03:06
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 32
Notes to answerer
Asker: @Yvonne 12:57 [Click here to delete your post] [Click here to edit your post] Thanks for your suggestion. If "savoir créer" is translated as creativity, how would you translate "créativité" in the next part of the sentence? "L'excellence du savoir-faire et du savoir créer, autrement dit une expression de talent, de technique et de créativité"


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Irene Chalmers Preire
17 mins
  -> Thank you

agree  Carol Gullidge: "know-how and creative expertise" (for the whole thing) or even "creative genius..."// yes, perhaps "creative expertise" is unnecessarily clunky!
43 mins
  -> Thank you. Yes, several ways of saying it. I think "creativity" is self-explanatory but "creative genius" is nice too

agree  Jennifer White: Knowhow and creativity.
1 hr
  -> Many thanks:-)

agree  philgoddard: In answer to Sandra's additional question, I'd ignore "créativité" as it's saying the same thing again.
3 hrs
  -> Thanks:-)

agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: I like this for "savoir-créer", the hyphen is important. The original marks it out from "savoir-faire" for a reason, probably the former meaning to be creative (having the ideas), the latter about being skilled with your hands.
2 days 1 hr
  -> Many thanks:-) yes, I agree. Savoir faire=(practical) expertise/skills
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
artistry OR [reword sentence]


Explanation:
Oftentimes I end up reworking this kind of sentence to get the same idea across without having to butt heads with this or that word, but in this case "artistry" might do, as art is by definition creative and fine craftsmanship is very often considered a work of art.

If you do rework the sentence, you could translate savoir-créer by "imagination" or "inspiration" or the like.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2019-10-31 13:23:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

To expand on my answer, I think "artistry" implies applied creativity, i.e. the ability to not only come up with creative ideas but also put them into practice and work them into an item or object, which goes nicely with craftsmanship.

Example sentence(s):
  • [...] excellence in skill and artistry that speaks of talent, technique and creativity.
  • [...] artistry and know-how spring from an appreciation/understanding of tradition and culture.
Wolf Draeger
South Africa
Local time: 05:06
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 32

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: I don't agree that "artistry" and "creativity" are synonyms here
54 mins
  -> I never said they were, just that artistry includes creativity.
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
creative knowledge


Explanation:
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691164977/cr...
Creativity Class: Art School and Culture Work in Postsocialist China ... the rise of a Chinese artistic vanguard and creative knowledge-based economy, Creativity ...

https://www.surfaceartassociation.com/
Surface Art Association (SAA) is a membership-based organization open to ... in sharing their creative knowledge and innovations, exhibiting artwork and ...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2019-10-31 13:51:47 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

This is not exactly the same as "creativity", as that is about the application of creative knowledge and involves mental and physical energy too.

B D Finch
France
Local time: 04:06
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 43

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Gareth Callagy
3 hrs
  -> Thanks Gareth
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
creativity and artistic skill


Explanation:
covers the two concepts. (really, this is a shot in the dark).

Stephanie Benoist
France
Local time: 04:06
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Creative skills


Explanation:
I would translate this as "know-how and creative skills", the distinction between "savoir créer" and "créativité" being that the former is the skills to bring about abstract creative ideas and the latter (créativité) the abstract creative thought/idea itself.

Gareth Callagy
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:06
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you to everyone. I went with technical skills (the know-how a craftsperson would learn through training) and creative skills.
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1 day 4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
creative flair


Explanation:
Just another option to consider.

Helen Hagon
Local time: 03:06
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Marian Vieyra: Yes, there are many options, but I like this one best.
4 hrs
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4 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Workmanship


Explanation:
"Le savoir créer" makes me think of a person's ability to create things with his hands, so I why not workmanship?

Michael Ost
United States
Local time: 20:06
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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