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objets interposés

English translation: mediating object

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:objet interposé
English translation:mediating object
Entered by: Victoria Barkoff

03:41 Jan 6, 2003
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary
French term or phrase: objets interposés
Même les objets non préservés, par exemple, les vêtements des classes ouvrières des siècles passés,existent par «objets interposés » , illustrations ou comparaisons avec des objets similaires de la même époque.
Victoria Barkoff
Local time: 02:58
have an existence through "mediating objects"
Explanation:
A search on "mediating objects" on Google shows that it's a term used in fields as diverse information technology, cultural studies and sociology. It may originate in the work of the sociologist Anselm Strauss on theories of communication and action.


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Note added at 2003-01-08 18:30:19 (GMT)
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NOTE: \"have an existence\" sounds a little atypical, I know, but \"exist\" doesn\'t seem quite right. \"Have a vicarious existence through `mediating objects\' ...\" [building on Per Incuriam\'s insight above] would probably be better.
Selected response from:

Patrick Murphy
Local time: 01:58
Grading comment
Thanks to all submitters for your thoughtful and excellent suggestions. "Mediating objects" seems to capture the tone.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4"through other objects"
BOB DE DENUS
5 +1by/through proxy
cheungmo
5representative objects
Yolanda Broad
4by analogy with other objects
Aida Macedo
4"influences"
Protradit
4vicariously
Per Incuriam
4extrapolate...from contemporary illustrations....
Christopher Crockett
4have an existence through "mediating objects"
Patrick Murphy
3unpreserved objects, such as working class clothing of past centuries, are conveyed through
Peter McCavana
3juxtaposed / superimposed
jerrie


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
"through other objects"


Explanation:
...working class clothing of past centuries come to (existance)life "through other objects", through images and by comparing them with ....

Good luck!

BOB DE DENUS
Local time: 16:58
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in pair: 417

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Louise Dupont (X)
6 mins

agree  cjohnstone
6 hrs

agree  GILOU
7 hrs

agree  Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X): yes
1 day 11 hrs
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51 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
by/through proxy


Explanation:
Whichever fits better.




cheungmo
PRO pts in pair: 339

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Anna Taylor: I like it too
13 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
by analogy with other objects


Explanation:
a possibility

Aida Macedo
Portugal
Local time: 06:58
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese
PRO pts in pair: 20
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
"influences"


Explanation:
Even the things that haven't been preserved, such as the clothes of the working classes of past centuries, exist as "influences", illustrations or comparisons with similar things of the same era.

'Object' in English refers more to something that has been constructed from hard materials or to something conceived (e.g. the object of our desire). 'Things' is a more comprehensive term, as called for by the example of 'clothes' in the French. To convey 'things input' as a concept, as suggested by 'comparisons' and 'illustrations' in the French, use of the term 'influence' is suggested as the one that is most common in standard American English.

Protradit
Local time: 23:58
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 71
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
unpreserved objects, such as working class clothing of past centuries, are conveyed through


Explanation:
other related objects and by illustrations or comparisons with similar objects from the same period.

OR
are brought to life by other related objects (OR items) and by illustrations or comparisons with similar objects (OR items) from the same period.

OR
are brought to life by other related objects (OR items) and by illustrations or comparisons with similar objects (OR items) from the same period.

OR
unpreserved objects, such as working class clothing of past centuries, are brought to life by other related exhibits and by illustrations, and by comparison with similar exhibits from the same period.

I don't think it is appropriate to translate "objets interposés" directly as such.
I think you need to "change tack" and rework the sentence.
Also, depending on the context, the word "objet" in itself may be translated as artefact, item, article, exhibit, object, thing, etc.
If this text is for a museum which seems likely to me), then "objet" is probably _exhibit_, but "exhibits" would not be appropriate for the not for the "objets non préservés".

"non-extant objects" _might_ be an apropriate translation of "objets non préservés" in this case.


Peter McCavana
France
Local time: 07:58
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 100
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
juxtaposed / superimposed


Explanation:
items / objects / exhibits

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Note added at 2003-01-06 10:28:54 (GMT)
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montage

jerrie
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:58
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 77
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
vicariously


Explanation:
as a suggestion to "capture the tone of the French"

Per Incuriam
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 45
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
representative objects


Explanation:
that is, objects that, through their similarity to those lost, *represent* what they were like. Here are a couple of examples, taken off the first page of results on Google of a search for "representative objects" + historical + lost:

British Archaeology magazine, December 2001
... Once lost, twice excavated ... Smith and Potter in the Transactions of the Historical Society of ... 1858 he also sent a small parcel of 'representative objects' to the ...
www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba62/feat3.shtml

... original objects have been lost, Monticello has ... American artists to create representative objects for the ... with subjects dealing with historical subjects and ...
www.nokotahorse.org/NokotaNewsIV.htm

For other examples, see:


    Reference: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22repres...
Yolanda Broad
United States
Local time: 02:58
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 1551
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
extrapolate...from contemporary illustrations....


Explanation:
I agree with Peter that reworking the sentence might be a way to go.

How about :

The nature and appearance of artifacts [thanks again to Peter] from previous epochs which have not survived (such as working class clothing) may be extrapolated from contemporary illustrations of these or similar objects.

Christopher Crockett
Local time: 02:58
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 444
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1 day 21 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
have an existence through "mediating objects"


Explanation:
A search on "mediating objects" on Google shows that it's a term used in fields as diverse information technology, cultural studies and sociology. It may originate in the work of the sociologist Anselm Strauss on theories of communication and action.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-01-08 18:30:19 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

NOTE: \"have an existence\" sounds a little atypical, I know, but \"exist\" doesn\'t seem quite right. \"Have a vicarious existence through `mediating objects\' ...\" [building on Per Incuriam\'s insight above] would probably be better.


    Reference: http://cormas.cirad.fr/pdf/icmas.pdf
    Reference: http://dcr.rpi.edu/Research/
Patrick Murphy
Local time: 01:58
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 16
Grading comment
Thanks to all submitters for your thoughtful and excellent suggestions. "Mediating objects" seems to capture the tone.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Christopher Crockett: Perhaps used in other fields, but I've never seen the term used in historical, art historical or archeological literature, and its use in this context seems ambiguous, at best..
1 day 14 hrs
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