Glossary entry

Italian term or phrase:

un welfare di famiglia

English translation:

intra-family support system

Added to glossary by Peter Waymel
Nov 12, 2012 14:48
11 yrs ago
Italian term

un welfare di famiglia

Italian to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
"La presenza di più generazioni ha consentito anche di distribuire e spalmare le necessità di cura: i nonni si occupano dei bambini in età prescolare e le mamme si occupano dei nonni al momento della perdita di auto-sufficienza. Il welfare familistico entro le mura di queste case ha assunto carattere quasi endemico: non si può vivere qui (sparsi, a volte isolati) senza mobilitare un welfare di famiglia".[text on urban sprawl in Italy in the post-WW II era and the rise of a new middle class]

[my attempt]:
"The familistic welfare within the confines of these homes took on an almost endemic character: one could not live here (in a scattered, sometimes isolated manner) without mobilizing a family welfare."

My rendering (a family welfare) sounds a bit awkward, but if I write "a family welfare system", it would seem to imply a city-wide program, rather than just a system employed within the confines of each single home.

Thanks for any ideas on this, and alternate translations,

Peter
Change log

Nov 12, 2012 16:27: philgoddard changed "Field (specific)" from "Architecture" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters"

Discussion

Lara Barnett Nov 13, 2012:
@ James I see what you are saying, but would the English reader get that if they saw the term "family welfare"?
James (Jim) Davis Nov 13, 2012:
@Lara Italians originally learnt the word "welfare" by reading about the famous British "welfare state" created by British labour governments in precisely the same period this author, an architect, not a sociologist is talking about. That is how the word entered the Italian vocabulary. The word is just as closely associated with the "welfare state" in Italian (or at least was many years ago and this author seems to be writing from personal experience of those years). They didn't have any welfare state, they had to invent their own "family welfare". IMHO the word *has* to be translated with "welfare" otherwise it loses the whole meaning, including the touch of irony. Welfare is government in both Italian and English, but the author has broken that rule.
Lara Barnett Nov 13, 2012:
@James Exactly, this is as I said, a case of usage. If the English only use the word for "welfare state" and the Italians never really had much of a welfare state in the way that Brits did/do, the term (IMO) cannot really be translated literally.
philgoddard Nov 12, 2012:
Peter Whichever phrase you choose, you shouldn't repeat it in your translation. English has a horror of repetition that other languages don't have. I'd suggest you say "family welfare" the first time, and then something like "such a system" the second. I think system is OK, despite your doubts.

Proposed translations

+1
29 mins
Selected

intra-family support system

I would use a descriptive phrase such as this. I think the word "welfare" would hold too many connotations. Using "Intra-family" removes the suggestion of a wider system, as you are hoping to use.

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Note added at 30 mins (2012-11-12 15:19:16 GMT)
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"The individuals in these families can rely on saving to satisfy lifecycle needs as described by the lifecycle model. Or individuals can rely on INTRA-FAMILY transfers to solve their lifecycle problems."

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~amason/Research/Mason.Ogawa.Fukui.pd...
Example sentence:

\

Peer comment(s):

neutral James (Jim) Davis : I think practically all the connotations in the English term "welfar" are pretty much to be found in the Italian term too, especially the history of the term.
32 mins
agree Juliet Halewood (X) : I like this Lara
1 day 5 hrs
Thank you.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, Lara. In the end I went with a mixture of this and PhilGoddard's suggestion, writing "without mobilizing such an intra-familial support system". Thanks to all. "
+7
25 mins

family welfare

Plain and simple "... without recourse to family welfare" without the awkward "un".
Peer comment(s):

agree Rachel Fell : or maybe "a family welfare system"-? Oh, I just re-read the Q.
34 mins
The text seems pretty informal, conversational almost.
agree Dr Lofthouse
39 mins
agree Isabelle Johnson
47 mins
agree Pernigotti Translations : agree
2 hrs
agree Peter Cox
16 hrs
agree Mary Stefan
17 hrs
agree maria condo
23 hrs
neutral Lara Barnett : I would say that although the meaning may be there, we don't actually USE "welfare" in this way in the English language. I think usage is a priority with such a specific term. It is the usage that defines the connotations - in this case at least.
1 day 5 hrs
I c wot u mean. We don't use it that way because "welfare" has always been "Welfare state" welfare in England, invented in the UK. The point the author is making is that there was no welfare state in 50s Italy, so they made do with "family welfare".
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

family-based welfare system

forse meglio di family welfare, che mi sembra potrebbe confondersi con le misure di welfare a favore della famiglia.
invece qui si tratta delle famiglia che si sostituisce al welfare statale.
anche la proposta di Lara rende il concetto, ma mi sembra appesantisca un po' la frase
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5 days

a welfare system devised by and for the (Italian) family

This is the way I would formulate the phrase in question.
Something went wrong...
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