carte obligée

English translation: One map that's essential

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:carte obligée
English translation:One map that's essential
Entered by: B D Finch

06:14 Feb 19, 2020
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / book summary
French term or phrase: carte obligée
Hello,

"D’ici, ça ne paraît pas si loin est l’histoire d’une carte. Une carte obligée, celle, administrative, de la Nouvelle-Aquitaine"

I don't understand what "obligée means here, here is more context:
https://www.becair.com/produit/dici-ca-ne-parait-pas-si-loin...

Thank you.
Louisa.
Louisa Tchaicha
Tunisia
Local time: 12:14
One map that's essential
Explanation:
This seems to fit the context, even if it's not the only possible reading.
Selected response from:

B D Finch
France
Local time: 12:14
Grading comment
Thank you BD Finch, I used your answer :) Thank you everybody for helping!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1one map that you have to have / one map that you surely need / a must-have map
Daryo
3 +1One map that's essential
B D Finch
3 -1marginalia map
Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón
3 -2a story that must be told [rework the metaphor]
Wolf Draeger


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Une carte obligée
One map that's essential


Explanation:
This seems to fit the context, even if it's not the only possible reading.

B D Finch
France
Local time: 12:14
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 43
Grading comment
Thank you BD Finch, I used your answer :) Thank you everybody for helping!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you BD Finch :)


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  SafeTex
9 hrs
  -> Thanks
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
une carte obligée
one map that you have to have / one map that you surely need / a must-have map


Explanation:
i.e. you can't avoid using / mentioning this map

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Note added at 10 hrs (2020-02-19 16:58:16 GMT)
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one map you have to take a look at

Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:14
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  B D Finch: I think you are losing sight of the context "D’ici, ça ne paraît pas si loin est l’histoire d’une carte. Une carte obligée, celle, administrative, de la Nouvelle-Aquitaine ..." and that this is an artwork for which they used that map.
43 mins
  -> as far as I can see, it's a most literal map - that you need ("must-have") so that you can connect the photos to geographical locations. Is there something else I'm missing?

agree  José Patrício: necessitated, required
3 days 19 hrs
  -> Thanks!
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16 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -2
a story that must be told [rework the metaphor]


Explanation:
A little risqué perhaps, but an option worth considering if the aim is to make an impression and—most important—inspire the reader to buy the photobook.

From the ST it's clear that here carte is a metaphor, perhaps one chosen in the wake of the 2015 reorganization of France's regions and the fact that the area in question only really exists on the map, being an administrative construct rather than a traditional or historic region (although the lines between the two are often blurred in France).

Of course you have to continue with the story metaphor and pretty much rework the entire first paragraph, but I'm happy to do that if the meaning and feeling of the ST is preserved and the effect achieved is the same.

Example sentence(s):
  • [...] is a story, one that must be told and heard, about the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, now France's largest and as big as Austria.
  • An open-ended story with many overlaps about identity, unity and belonging.
Wolf Draeger
South Africa
Local time: 13:14
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 32

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  B D Finch: If you read the source text, you'll see that it isn't a metaphor.
12 hrs

disagree  Daryo: it's a most literal map, and a key part of the story - can't get rid of it.
1 day 9 mins
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17 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
marginalia map


Explanation:
How about this:

https://www.chazen.wisc.edu/images/uploads/Files/Marginalia_...

Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón
Mexico
Local time: 06:14
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Spanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Daryo: very tenuous links to this ST + the ref. is about "marginalia" found on maps NOT about maps of "marginalia"
22 hrs
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