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christliches Abendland

English translation: Christian West(ern world)

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:christliches Abendland
English translation:Christian West(ern world)
Entered by: Karin Walker (X)

08:08 Apr 20, 2006
German to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Religion / same-sex marriages
German term or phrase: christliches Abendland
"Eine rechtliche Regelung für eine kleine Minderheit kann das ***christliche Abendland* nicht in Gefahr bringen."

I'm still with the text on same-sex partnerships but this query is much less controversial ;-)
This seems to be a term heavily in use in German. A close translation (the Christian occident) results in virtually only German hits on Google so I'm loathe to use this. Why Abendland, anyway? Surely the issue (the legal recognition of same-sex partnerships) is a matter for the entire Christian world, not just the Abendland (although I guess you could argue that the Morgenland is not dominated by Christianity, but then again isn't that where it originated???) I don't understand a) whether it's significant that the authors limit themselves to Abendland and b) how this is best translated. Hope some of you can help me out.
TIA
Karin
Karin Walker (X)
Germany
Local time: 21:20
Christian West(ern world)
Explanation:
It just means what is otherwise called "the West".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2006-04-20 17:12:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Morgenland/Abendland is simply a more elaborate (although I could think of other words) way of saying the East/West (based on the 'path' of the sun). Both are hugely subjective (and, like it or not, are firmly established terms).
Selected response from:

Francis Lee (X)
Local time: 21:20
Grading comment
I chose this because even though I thought it reads funny (never heard it like this), the 'Christian' element seemed important to me (given the context). Thanks to all who participated in this - saw some very helpful and enlightening comments.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +7Christian West(ern world)
Francis Lee (X)
4 +3Western civilization
Lilia Shtakser
3Western civilization
Jalapeno
3Christian occident
itla


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Western civilization


Explanation:
may be without "Christian"

Lilia Shtakser
Germany
Local time: 21:20
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Francis Lee (X): but keep the "Christian" in there somewhere
1 min
agree  RobinB: German conservatives use "christliches Abendland" in much the same way as we say ""Western civilization as we know it". They still have this curious notion that Germany, and the West in general, is Christian, specifically Catholic. Very tedious.
1 hr
agree  Annette Urbschat
3 hrs
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8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Western civilization


Explanation:
I believe this is used humorously here and that it could best be rendered by something along the lines of "will not be the end of Western civilization".

Jalapeno
Local time: 21:20
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Robert Kleemaier: good solution, but disagree with your comment re its 'humorous' use.
5 hrs
  -> agree. When I posted my answer, I didn't know that the text was written by the Catholic church. Taken alone, the sentence might well have appeared in a GLT newspaper - I operated under that premise...
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Christian occident


Explanation:
This is a fairly common expression used by historians.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2006-04-20 10:15:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry, I should have read your entire post. It was spontaneous.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2006-04-20 10:18:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/cd40-02.html
The World Council of Churches uses it.

itla
Local time: 21:20
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
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8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +7
Christian West(ern world)


Explanation:
It just means what is otherwise called "the West".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2006-04-20 17:12:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Morgenland/Abendland is simply a more elaborate (although I could think of other words) way of saying the East/West (based on the 'path' of the sun). Both are hugely subjective (and, like it or not, are firmly established terms).

Francis Lee (X)
Local time: 21:20
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 20
Grading comment
I chose this because even though I thought it reads funny (never heard it like this), the 'Christian' element seemed important to me (given the context). Thanks to all who participated in this - saw some very helpful and enlightening comments.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ian M-H (X): Yes: "threaten the Christian West". Not just as opposed to the non-Christian world but also the non-Catholic "Orthodox East".
42 mins
  -> ya think so?
agree  Ulrike Kraemer: with Ian
49 mins
agree  Rebecca Garber: With Ian. top of the morning, Francis
4 hrs
  -> Erm ... hello.
agree  Robert Kleemaier: with Ian
5 hrs
agree  Maureen Millington-Brodie
8 hrs
agree  Brigitte Albert (X): with Ian
18 hrs
agree  Matthias Quaschning-Kirsch: the Christliches Abendland is a typical German term (in practical use, the Abendland is always christlich). Rarely seen other translations than this one.
3 days 2 hrs
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