P COLQUHOUN - French to English translator. Translation services in Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting - EuropeanUnion,politics,economics,literature,art,music,cinema,philosophy,religion,Buddhism,bio-energy

Working languages:

French to English
Italian to English
Spanish to English

P COLQUHOUN
Over 30 years as a Senior EU Translator

Nice, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France

Local time: 09:32 CEST (GMT+2)

Native in: English

Send email

Feedback from
clients and colleagues
on Willingness to Work Again

No feedback collected

Freelance translator and/or interpreter

This person has a SecurePRO™ card. Because this person is not a ProZ.com Plus subscriber, to view his or her SecurePRO™ card you must be a ProZ.com Business member or Plus subscriber.

This person is not affiliated with any business or Blue Board record at ProZ.com.

Translation

Specializes in:
Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting	Government / Politics
International Org/Dev/Coop

French to English - Standard rate: 0.10 USD per word / 45 USD per hour

Sample translations submitted: 9

French to English: excerpt from DVD General field: Other Detailed field: Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Source text - French 11 00.00 V. Et pourquoi tu témoignes ? Qu’est-ce qui te pousse à témoigner ? 00.03 B. Ce qui me pousse à témoigner, c’est que je n’ai jamais cru, en quarante cinq années de recherche, je n’ai pas peur d’employer recherche, moi, je cherchais, hein. Il y en a qui cherchent la bagarre, moi je cherchais l’Amour (rires). Tu aimais tellement ça, tu étais tellement passionné, à aucun moment tu envisages que c’est pour toi. Le jour où ça arrive, tu dis aux autres : « oho, c’est possible les gars, évidemment, et c’est pour tout le monde, bien entendu, il n’y a pas de condition à remplir pour être. » Par contre, l’idée qu’on en a est extraordinairement fausse, à cause de ce qui est véhiculé, à cause de nos conditionnements et à cause de la conscience qu’on en a qui diffère de chacun. J’ai aimé ça par-dessus tout, c’est un trésor, c’est ma vie, c’est le bonheur. Et tu as celui qui cherche, puis doute, et qui trouve que c’est dur, comme tu as trouvé que c’était dur. Je lui dis : « non, non, c’est tellement simple que le mental ne peut pas le concevoir ».C’est ça le témoignage, c’est un témoignage, c’est un acte d’Amour que tu ne décides pas, ça se fait tout seul. Et moi j’en suis sûr, je SAIS que ça tient à rien, MAIS À UN POINT ! Même là, vous ne l’imaginez pas. L’identification tient A RIEN DU TOUT ! Elle ne va pas tomber : Oui, le fruit est mûr, bon, OUI AUSSI, aussi, mais ça peut aller beaucoup plus vite. C’est une histoire d’intensité. J’aime, je veux ça, CLAF, c’est fini ! C’est une certaine folie, quoi, en fin de compte… La vraie. 01.29 E. Et comment ça s’est fini pour toi ? Comment ça s’est passé ? Est-ce qu’il est possible de décrire cet ultime moment ?01.39 01.41 B. A aucun moment je n’ai envisagé que c’était pour moi ce dont on parle là, la réalisation. Un jour, je lisais Nisargadatta, que j’avais lu, on va dire, cinquante fois avant. Il y a eu un déclic qui fait que, tien ?… Ahhh… ! C’est pas vrai, c’est pour moi ! Moi aussi je pourrais, quoi ! Donc, ce n’est pas qu’une compréhension. Il y a une part de compréhension, puis ça se transforme en un DECLIC qui va plus loin que tout ça quoi, en fin de compte. 02.08 E. Qui va plus loin, quoi, que l’idée du mental, que… ? 02.10 B. Plus loin que… C’est une prise de conscience, mais des prises de conscience tu en fais toute la journée. Celle-là est plus forte, comme quoi j’ai pris un éclair. ! L’instant de réalisation, c’est pareil. Tu es foudroyé. Alors, celui qui dit que ce n’est pas un évènement… Il faut qu’il voie, hein… Foudroyé ! Comme si la conscience… Je le décris, moi, comme je peux le décrire : La conscience entrain de réaliser, de comprendre, mais le mental n’est pas là. Ça change tout. Il n’interprète pas dans cet instant là. Je décris un instant qui va vite, mais, au ralenti : la conscience entrain de réaliser, quoi, comme les choses sont vraiment, SANS interprétation… Imagine… Ça n’arrive pas souvent ! Comme là, la conscience, comme dit si bien Nisargadatta, est toujours conscience de quelle que chose. Quand elle n’est pas consciente de quelque chose, il n’y a plus de conscience. C’est l’êtreté tout court. Conscience du monde, avec toi dedans, la vie particulière, et tu VOIS que tu es la base. A l’instant où c’est compris, la compréhension est dissoute, il n’y a plus de contenu dans la conscience, ça se transforme en êtreté, t’es foudroyé. Qui est foudroyé ? Tu verras bien. PLAF, ça fait ça, c’est ça la réalisation. C’est un évènement extraordinaire, c’est un feu d’artifice, c’est le volcan qui pète, quoi, en fin de compte ! 03.25 (bruit de ruisseau). 03.34 (avec le ruisseau) : Quand on voit ce qu’on est on n’a pas envie de changer quelque chose, mais on a envie de témoigner de ce qu’on a vécu et de dire que c’est évidemment pour tout le monde, sans l’idée qu’on en a. Quoi de plus simple que ça ?... On est là définitivement… C’est tellement fort que… les mots ne suffisent pas, en fait. 03.55 (Bruitages divers continus) 05.01 (Explosion) 05.17 (Fin de l’explosion).	Translation - English 00.00 V. And why do you bear witness? What makes you do that? 00.03 B. What makes me bear witness? It's the fact that never, in forty-five years of searching - I'm not afraid to speak of searching, and oh, did I search! Some people go out looking for a fight, me, I was looking for Love (laughter). You loved that so, you were so passionate, never for one moment did you think it might be for you. The day when it happens, you say to the others: “Oh ho, it is possible, folks, and it’s for everyone of course, there are no preconditions for being.” On the other hand, the idea one has of it is extraordinarily false, because of what’s put about, because of our conditioning and because the consciousness one has of it will differ for each one of us. I have loved that above all else, it’s a treasure, it is my life, it is happiness. And you have the one who searches, then doubts, and finds that it’s hard, just as you found that it’s hard. To him I say: “No, no, it’s so simple that the mind can’t conceive of it”. That’s what bearing witness is, it’s an act of Love which you don’t decide on, it just happens. And myself, I’m sure of that, I KNOW it depends on nothing. SO MUCH SO! Even there, you cannot imagine it. Identification depends upon NOTHING WHATEVER! The fruit is ripe, YES, THAT TOO, but it can go so much quicker. It’s a matter of intensity. I love, I want that, BANG, it’s done! All things considered, it’s a kind of craziness… the real craziness. 01.29 E. And how did it end for you? Is it possible to describe that last moment? 01.39 01.41 B. At no time did I envisage that what we’re talking of, realisation, was for me. One day, I was reading Nisargadatta, something I’d read, let’s say, fifty times before. There was a click, an opening, so that… Hey?... Aahh…! That’s not true, it IS for me. I too can make it! So it’s not just something one’s understood. There is an element of understanding, then it’s transformed into that click, that opening which goes way beyond. 02.08 E. Which goes beyond the idea which the mind… 02.10 B. Beyond… It’s an awakening of consciousness, but one has such awakenings all day long. This one was stronger, as though I’d been hit by a bolt of lightning. The instant of realisation is like that. You’re struck by lightning. Then, as for those who say it’s not an event… They’ll have to see for themselves, huh… Lightning! I describe it as I can: consciousness realising, understanding, but the mind’s not there. That changes everything. It does not interpret at that moment. I’m describing an instant that passes in a flash, yet in slow motion: consciousness realising how things really are, WITHOUT interpretation… Just imagine… It doesn’t happen often! Consciousness, as Nisargadatta puts it so well, is always consciousness of something. When it is not conscious of something, there is no more consciousness. It’s simply beingness. Consciousness of the world, with you in it, particular life, and you SEE that you are the basis. At the instant of understanding, understanding is dissolved, there’s no more content in consciousness, it transforms into beingness, you’re struck by lightning. Who’s struck? You’ll see. BANG! That’s what it does, that’s realisation. It’s an extraordinary event, it’s a starburst, it’s a volcano erupting! 03.25 (Sound of a stream). 03.34 (with the stream): When one sees what one is one doesn’t want to change anything, but one wants to bear witness to what one has lived and to say that it is evidently for everyone, nothing to do with the idea one has of it. What could be simpler than that? One is there, for good… It is so strong that… words are not enough. 03.55 (Various continuous sounds) 05.01 (Explosion) 05.17 (End of explosion)
Italian to English: Passacagli della Vita General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - Italian Passacagli della vita O, come t’inganni Se pensi che gl’anni Non debban finire Bisogna morire. È un sogno la vita Che par si gradita È breve il gioire Bisogna morire. Non val medicina Non giova la china Non si può guarire Bisogna morire. Si more cantando Si more sonando La cetra o sampogna Morire bisogna. Si more danzando Bevendo, mangiando, Con quella carogna Morire bisogna. I giovan, i putti, E gl’homini tutti S’han’a finire Bisogna morire. I sani, gl’infermi I bravi, l’inermi Tutt’han’a finire Bisogna morire. Se tu non vi pensi Hai persi li sensi Sei mort’, e puoi dire Bisogna morire.	Translation - English Oh, how wrong you are to think That the years will never end – We must die. And our life is just a dream And as good as it may seem It will very soon have passed Die we must. Just forget the medicine You’ll have no use for quinine All those cures are just a lie – We must die. Oh, when singing you can die Or when playing lute and fife Leave your love and lose your life – We must die. And when dancing you may die, Drinking ale or eating pie, Dust can but return to dust, Die we must. Maidens, youths and little babes, All men move towards their graves – We must die. Sick or sound, brave or poltroon, Death will have us late or soon – We must die. If this you will not contemplate, It already is too late All your senses you have lost, And you’ve given up the ghost – Die we must.
Italian to English: No known language... General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - Italian Poi d’improvviso cominciò a prendere furiosamente a calci e pugni Ciacconio, chiamandolo Pellandrone, Pellicciaccio, Bambalio, Bastione, Panfardo, Parabolano, Pizzafrondo, Scrignocco, Serrazzonio, Scarabotto, Gabbaino, Scolopendrio, Asiniano, Antronio, Farinaccio, Arcifanfano, Cavolaccio, Borboglio, Tartagliazzo, Mangiardonio, Barbacano, Bragonardo, Stramboinone, Licantropio, Valdrappaccio, Brutaniano, Ferramazzo, Mazzarango, Gonnellastro, Forchinpalo, Vesciconio, Podiciaio, Pederastrio, Arroganzio, Castagnaccio, Ciabattonio, Taccagnazio, Zampadellio, Bagianione, Baldonaccio, Bagonello, Neronato, Garagnonio, Sicomorone e altri epiteti che non avevo prima d’allora mai udito, e che purtuttavia suonavano assai gravi e offensivi.	Translation - English Then without warning he set to kicking and belabouring Ciacconio, calling him .You soursaggy old scumskinned, batskinned, sow-skinned, scrunchbacked, sodomitic Skinaflinter, you puking Mewlbrat, you muddisnouted, slavering, sarcophagous Shitebeetle, you bumsquibcracking Sicomoron, you slimy old Scabmutcheon-Shysteroo, you Shittard, Sguittard, Crackard, Filthard, lily-livered, lycanthropic Eunichon-Bastradion-Bumfodder-Billicullion-Balockatso, you gorbellied Doddipol, calflolly Jobbernol, you grapple-snouted Netherwarp, you clarty-frumpled, hummthrumming, tuzzlewenching, placket-racket, dregbilly, Lepidopter-Incornifistibulator, you gnat-snapping, weedgrubbing, blither-blather, bilge-bottled, Ockham-cockam Rationaguer-Pederaster., and other epithets which I had never heard before, yet which sounded somewhat grave and offensive to my ears.
Italian to English: Pseudo-Baroque prose General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - Italian Eminentissimo e Reverendissimo Signore, Mi persuado ogn’ora maggiormente che sarà senza dubbio gratissimo alla Signoria Vostra un compendioso raguaglio sopra gl’eventi straordinari ch’accaddero in Roma nel luglio dell’anno 1700, et hebbero per chiarissimo et illustrissimo protagonista un suddito fidelissimo di Sua Maestà Christianissima Re Luigi di Francia, su’ quali successi potrassi qui goder gran dovizia di descrittioni e di condupplicate paraphrasi. Questo è ’l frutto che nasce dal lavoro d’un semplice bifolco, ma ho ferma speranza che dal luminoso ingegno di V. S. Illustrissima non saranno aborriti i parti della mia selvaggia Musa. Se povero è il dono, ricca è però la volontà. Mi perdonerete se nelle pagine che seguono non ho posto bastanti lodi? Il Sole, benché altri mai nol lodasse, sempre egli è il Sole. In ricompensa non m’attendo altro se non ciò che Voi già prometteste, e nol ripeto, sapendo che un animo così generoso, com’è il Vostro, non possa da sé medesimo tralignare. Auguro all’Ecc.za Vostra assai lunga vita, per augurare a me assai lunga speranza: et humilissimamente fo’ profonda riverenza.	Translation - English Most Eminent and Reverend Sir, With ev’ry Hour that passeth, I am the more perswaded that Your Lordship will without a Doubt be most sensible of a compendious Account of those extraordinary Events which took place in Rome in July of the Year 1700, of which the most renowned and illustrious Protagonist was a faithfull Subject of his Most Christian Majesty King Louis of France, concerning whose Successes one may here enjoy a great Wealth of Descriptions and Commentaries. This is the Fruit born of the Labours of a simple Son of the Soil; and yet I dare trust that the luminous Genius of Yr Most Illustrious Lordship will not disdain the Offspring of my Savage Muse. Poor indeed is the Gift, yet rich is the Intent. Will you pardon me, Sir, if in the Pages that follow I have not included Praises enow? The Sun, altho’ ne’er praised by Others, is yet the Sun. In Recompense, I expect Nothing other than that which you have already promised me, nor shall I repeat that, mindful as I am that never could a Soul as gen’rous as Yours deviate from Itself. May I wish Yr Excellency a Life long enough to be for me a Harbinger of lasting hope; and most humbly do I make my Reverence.
German to English: Motivation for undertaking group work General field: Other Detailed field: Psychology
Source text - German Motivation wie hat alles angefangen Ich habe in einem Wendepunkt meines Lebens über den Kontakt zu Felix zunächst mit der Einzelarbeit begonnen. Konkret bedeute dies: regelmäßige Treffen mit Felix, regelmäßige schriftliche Aufzeichnungen zu meiner Arbeit und das stille Qi-Gong lernen. Dann hat Felix mir die Möglichkeit der Gruppenarbeit aufgezeigt. Es war eine Art Einladung zu der schon vorhandenen Seiki Körperarbeit Gruppe mit den Leuten, die ebenfalls mit Felix zusammen arbeiten. Einerseits habe ich Angst gespürt. Wegen der neuen Situation, den neue Leute. Die Vorstellung mich denen auch noch mitzuteilen –von meinem Inneren nach Außen gehen... . Andererseits war ich auch neugierig. Ich habe begonnen mit der Seiki Körperarbeit –an mir zu arbeiten. Ich möchte mich kennen lernen, mich spüren und fühlen. –Diesen Impuls nutzen für die Konfrontation in einer Gruppe mit Gleichgesinnten? Ja! Ich nehm’ alles mit, was ich kriegen kann!“ Das war meine Motivation für die Gruppenarbeit.	Translation - English Motivation or how it all began At a turning point in my life, through meeting Felix, I began to work on myself. In concrete terms, that meant: regular meetings with Felix, regularly keeping up written records of my work and learning still qigong. Then Felix offered me the possibility of taking part in group work. This was a sort of invitation to join an already existing Seiki Bodywork Group with people who were already working with Felix. On the one hand, I felt anxious. Because of the newness of the situation, the new people. The thought of bringing myself to share with others – to leave my protected inner space and be outgoing… At the same time, I was curious. I had begun to work on myself through Seiki Bodywork. I wanted to get to know, to explore and to feel myself. - How about using this impulse for confrontation within a group of like-minded people? “...Yes! I’ll give it all I’ve got!” Such was my motivation for group work.
German to English: Discussion General field: Other Detailed field: Psychology
Source text - German Direkte Bewegung mit Herz ist unsere Orientierung. Ein Ausdruck der Bewegung ist die Kommunikation. In unseren Gesprächen üben und praktizieren wir die direkte Kommunikation mit Herz. Diese Art der Kommunikation hat zwei Seiten. Einmal die Direktheit, das heißt offen und ehrlich zu sich selber sein, mitbekommen was in einem brodelt oder kocht, spüren welche Gefühle man gerade im Moment hat, und diese Gefühle und Gedanken offen und ehrlich herauslasen. Die zweite Seite ist das Herz! Es kommt bei der Direktheit auf den Klang, das Gefühl dazu und die Resonanz der Worte an. Hier liegt für mich ein weiterer Knackpunkt. In meiner Seiki-Körperarbeit (SK) habe ich gelernt direkt zu sein, indem ich meine Meinung und Gefühle rauslasse, besonders in der EntGem Gruppe. Dies passiert meistens noch unbeholfen, schnell und chaotisch und wirkt dann auf die anderen von oben herab oder pieksend (die Amazone).	Translation - English Discussion: Direct movement, with Heart, is our orientation. One expression of movement is communication. In our discussions, we work on and practise direct communication, with Heart. There are two sides to this kind of communication. First of all: directness, which implies being open and honest with oneself, to share what is stirring or boiling up within oneself, to be mindful of what feelings one has at any given moment and to allow free and honest expression to those feelings and thoughts. The second is the Heart! This you can feel by the directness of the sound, the feeling it carries, the resonance of the words. Here for me lies another reference point. In my Seiki Bodywork, I have learnt how to be direct, giving free flow to my intentions and feelings, especially within the EntGem Group. In most cases this arises spontaneously, it’s rapid and chaotic and for the others rather like a volley of arrows raining down on them (that’s me doing my “Amazon” thing).
French to English: voice-over General field: Other Detailed field: Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Source text - French C’est ici que mes parents, un 17 février... on a entendu des voitures arriver, toquer à la porte : « ouvrez-nous ! »… et une masse d’hommes armés sont entres, nous ont dit de ne pas bouger. Ils ont fouillé la maison et ils ont cherché les documents compromettant mon père. Et là … les hommes qui étaient là m’ont dit : « Toi, la petite, tu peux bouger. » Ils ont blessé mon père pour le faire parler. Ils ont dit à mon grand-père de ne pas bouger. Mon grand-père m’a dit tout doucement : « Si je pouvais, je prendrais une arme… Je prendrais une arme et je les descendrais, mais vous êtes là, donc je ne peux pas ». Ma mère tenait ma petite sœur de deux ans sur ses genoux, elle m’a fait demander à celui qui était le chef de les préserver, eux. Il m’a dit : « Oui, je ramènerai ta mère dans 2 jours ». Je ne sais pas combien de temps ils sont restés et ils sont repartis en amenant mes parents.	Translation - English I was here with my parents, one 17th February… We heard cars arriving, there was banging on the door, then “Open up!”, and a mass of armed men burst in and told us not to move. They searched the house, looking for documents that could incriminate my father. And then these men said to me: “You, little one, you can move”. They hurt my father to make him talk. They told my grandfather not to move. My grandfather said to me very quietly, “If I could, I’d get a gun... I’d get a gun and I’d shoot the lot – but you’re here, so I can’t”. My mother was holding my little two-year-old sister on her knees and she got me to ask the man in charge to protect them. He replied: “Yes, I’ll bring your mother back in a couple of days”. I don’t know how long they were in the house and they took my parents with them when they left.
French to English: Urban legends General field: Social Sciences Detailed field: Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.
Source text - French Communication, croyance et construction identitaire : le cas des légendes urbaines. Analyse sémio-pragmatique de récits légendaires contemporains La légende urbaine est un phénomène communicationnel flou et complexe qui présente certaines spécificités par rapport à d’autres genres narratifs. Encore peu étudié, il n’existe pas de véritable consensus sur sa définition, sur sa dénomination et sur les efficacités qui lui sont attribuées par ceux qui la diffusent. Pourtant certaines de ces légendes circulent de manière si rapide et si étendue, remportent une telle adhésion et déclenchent tant d’intérêt et de curiosité qu’ils sont des objets d’étude passionnants. Jouant sur l’affect et le symbolique plus que sur le rationnel, la légende urbaine est une histoire profane localisée, temporalisée et individualisée relatant des événements inhabituels récents - surprenants, drôles mais le plus souvent terrifiants - qui seraient arrivés à l’ami d’un ami du narrateur ou à un inconnu. Mêlant imaginaire et réel, c’est un récit populaire, assez court, structuré et articulant plusieurs unités d’informations. Il s’appuie sur des représentations, des personnages stéréotypés et des situations standardisés. Ce genre de récit se propage à travers les années et les continents, variant sur quelques points comme le lieu, les dates, les caractéristiques des personnages selon le contexte et le milieu socioculturel des sujets-transmetteurs qui se le réapproprient. Toutefois son fond reste identique. L’histoire relatée est présentée comme authentique alors qu’elle ne l’est pas. C’est pourquoi beaucoup la considère comme un fait divers ou une anecdote. Diffusée selon divers modes de diffusion, la légende urbaine contribue à la création d’un sens commun, d’une identité sociale et au renforcement de la cohésion sociale par le biais de mécanismes psycho-sociaux communicationnels qui s’enclenchent lors de sa narration. L’analyse sémio-pragmatique de centaines de légendes nous a permis de montrer les intentions, les représentations, la relation et les rôles de ceux qui les diffusent. Ces récits peuvent varier selon cinq types distincts mais chacun met en scène la confrontation de deux protagonistes et ses conséquences : l’un représentant la communauté des sujets-transmetteurs, l’autre une entité opposée jugée « négative ». Cette opposition permet d’associer certains individus ou phénomènes à des actes ou des événements renvoyant à la peur, l’interdit, l’espoir ou au mystère. Des procédés discursifs, destinés à augmenter la croyance dans le récit, diminuent la réflexion critique et favorisent l’émission de son message qui peut être : prévenir d’un danger, condamner un comportement, s’approprier la satisfaction d’un acte réprouvé ou justifié mais risqué, ou encore surprendre par la présence de l’irrationnel dans le quotidien. Reflet de nos préoccupations et de notre interprétation du monde, la légende urbaine est un moyen de connaissance de certains événements touchant de manière intime, profonde et affective les individus d’un groupe par le biais de l’identification ou de l’exclusion du personnage principal de son récit. Grâce à elle, l’individu peut s’identifier et reconnaître son appartenance à un groupe social - ou une communauté particulière - par l’échange interactionnel de la narration du récit et de la discussion qui peut en découler ainsi que par le partage de certaines normes, valeurs ou idéaux, repris et défendus de manière souvent implicite dans le message. La création et l’affirmation d’une identité ne peut se faire que par opposition à une autre mais notre société complexe et multiculturelle ne permet plus de se définir comme appartenant à une entité unique. La légende urbaine permet de simplifier et de clarifier les limites de l’un de nos groupes d’appartenance, qu’il soit moral, religieux, ethnique, culturel..., et de reporter les problèmes existants sur un bouc-émissaire, choisi arbitrairement. Mots clés : Communication, récit, légende urbaine, croyance, identité, bouc émissaire	Translation - English Communication, beliefs and the construction of an identity: the case of urban legends. Semio-pragmatic analysis of contemporary legendary tales The urban legend is a loose and complex phenomenon of communication which has certain specific characteristics as compared with other types of narrative. It has as yet been little studied and there is no real consensus as to its definition, the name to be given it or the effects attributed to it by those spreading it. Yet, some of these legends circulate so fast and so far and wide and gain such credence, arousing so much interest and curiosity, that they make fascinating study material. Playing upon feelings and symbols rather than on rationality, the urban legend is a profane story situated in a specific place, at a specific time and involving named individuals; it tells of unusual recent events, which may be surprising or funny but are in most cases terrifying – all of which happened to a friend of a friend of the narrator or to a stranger. Mixing the real and the imaginary, it is a folk tale which will be fairly short, structured, and will involve several items of information. It will tend to make use of stereotyped representations and characters and standardised situations. This sort of tale is propagated over the years and across continents, varying in a number of respects; for instance, the dates and the description of the characters will depend on the socio-cultural context and environment of the tale-tellers who have appropriated the legend. Nevertheless, the basis remains unchanged. The story told is presented as authentic, although it is not. That is why it will often be regarded as a news item or anecdote. Spread in various different ways, the urban legend contributes to the creation of a shared sense of belonging, a social identity and the strengthening of social cohesion and this it does through various psycho-social mechanisms which are triggered off by the telling. The semio-pragmatic analysis of hundreds of legends has enabled us to discern the intentions, representations, relationships and roles of those who spread these tales. These fall into to five distinct classifications but each involves a confrontation between two protagonists and its consequences: one represents the community of the subjects-transmitters of the legend and the other, an opposing entity which is viewed as ‘negative’. This opposition makes it possible to associate certain individuals or phenomena with acts or events that touch on fears, taboos, hopes or a sense of mystery. Discursive devices are used to give greater credence to the tale, decrease critical reflection and promote the spreading of the tale’s message, which may be: preventing some danger, condemning a form of behaviour, gaining satisfaction from the performance of an action which is either reproved or justified but dangerous, or surprising listeners with the presence of the irrational in everyday life. Reflecting our anxieties and our interpretation of the world, the urban legend is a means of gaining knowledge of certain events which intimately, deeply affect individuals within a group on an emotional level through identification with or rejection of the principal character and his tale. Through this process, the individual can identify and acknowledge his membership of a social group – or a particular community – by means of the interactive exchange involved in the narration of the tale and the discussion that may arise from it and the sharing of certain norms, values or ideals, contained and often implicitly defended in the message. An identity can be created or affirmed only in opposition to another one but our complex multicultural society no longer enables us to define ourselves as belonging to any single entity. The urban legend makes it possible to simplify and clarify the limits of one of the groupings to which we belong, whether this be moral, religious, ethnic or cultural... and to place the blame for existing problems on an arbitrarily chosen scapegoat. Key words: Communication, tale, urban legend, belief, identity, scapegoat
Italian to English: Picasso's Blue Period General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
Source text - Italian 2) Bonjour tristesse, il periodo blu Introduzione La storia del blu nella pittura è densa di esempi di rara intensità che arrivano fino al Novecento, secolo in cui il blu trionfa come campo di meditazione, spazio metafisico, luogo dello spirito. Picasso dedica al blu un intero periodo, dal 1901 al 1904, espressione di tristi riflessioni sul dolore e sulla morte, ma anche di un mondo che cresce ai margini della città moderna, fatto di povertà, miseria e solitudine. Tre anni di monocromia in cui Picasso, che soggiorna più volte a Parigi, condivide la vita di stenti degli umili che rappresenta. CAPOLAVORI ANALIZZATI 0030241 Ritratto di Jaime Sabartés, 1901, Mosca, Museo Pushkin Amico fin dai tempi di Barcellona, lo scrittore Sabartés sarà anche segretario devoto di Picasso fino alla morte. Nei suoi ricordi Sabartés avrebbe commentato il quadro che Picasso gli aveva dedicato ai tempi della loro giovinezza, scrivendo: "Mi vedo, mi guardo fissato sulla tela, e comprendo ciò che io stesso ho suggerito all’inquieta osservazione del mio amico: lo spettro della mia solitudine (...)". Isolato al centro della tela, Sabartés è colto in un momento di dolorosa meditazione, di fronte a un boccale di birra, in un bar di cui non percepiamo alcun oggetto, presenza o movimento. 0103134 La bevitrice di assenzio, 1901, San Pietroburgo, Museo dell’Ermitage Chiusa in un guscio di malinconia, le braccia annodate al corpo, le mani disarticolate come artigli, "La bevitrice di assenzio" è un monumento alla solitudine e alla malinconia. Picasso si cimenta su un soggetto già affrontato in opere celeberrime da Degas e Tolouse-Lautrec, acuendone il senso di alienazione e di cupa malinconia. La figura risulta come contratta, avvolta in se stessa, costretta in uno spazio claustrofobico, tra tavolino e parete. Di fronte a lei campeggia l’assenzio, il liquore a basso costo che le classi poco agiate consumavano come sostituto dell’acquavite, ma che conteneva sostanze tossiche, la cui dipendenza divenne una vera e propria malattia sociale del tempo. WH00091 Autoritratto, 1901, Parigi, Musée Picasso Il quadro è fatto di un blu assoluto. Picasso ritrae se stesso, infagottato in un ampio cappotto blu, contro uno sfondo ancora blu, senza alcuna caratterizzazione paesaggistica o architettonica. L’artista è solo, affiora da uno spazio indefinibile come un’apparizione. Il volto – che è l’unica nota chiara – è cereo, livido. Picasso non è ancora celebre, ha appena vent’anni e lotta per sopravvivere a Parigi, eppure nella sua figura emaciata, pallida, nella sua collocazione asimmetrica nel campo del quadro si nota una certa monumentalità, non fosse che per l’ampia sagoma del cappotto profilato di nero che occupa gran parte del dipinto o per l’espressione, di lucida consapevolezza. 0065149 Vecchio chitarrista, 1903, Chicago, The Art Institute L’unica forma curvilinea, tondeggiante, all’interno del quadro fatto di spigoli aguzzi e membra ossute, è quella della chitarra, protagonista del dipinto insieme al suo chitarrista. Ogni cosa è velata di blu: il colore della malinconia, della miseria fisica e morale. Il vecchio musicista suona una melodia che non consola e più che suonare, sembra quasi aggrappato alla chitarra, unico elemento solido e unito; il corpo del vecchio è fatto invece a pezzi disarticolati, con membra allungate in modo innaturale e composte a zig zag. Picasso mostra l’interesse che nutriva per la pittura visionaria e manierista di El Greco, ma anche per la scultura lignea medievale che sembra tornare qui per la secchezza e la rigidità del corpo del chitarrista. 0030242 La vita, 1903, Cleveland, Museum of Art Fu Alfred Barr, il celebre direttore del Museum of Modern Art di New York a definire "La vita" un 'quadro-enigma'. I motivi dominanti del periodo blu vi sono riassunti: la solitudine, la malinconia, la povertà, la sofferenza, l’incomunicabilità: a sinistra compare una coppia di giovani (nell’uomo è stato visto un autoritratto del pittore) mentre a destra – si direbbe all’opposto, anche metaforicamente – è la figura di una donna di mezza età che reca un neonato. Al centro, sulla parete, due schizzi a matita riproducono una coppia abbracciata e una figura singola, chiuse in posizioni ed espressioni di angoscia. Il titolo del quadro sembra alludere all’ineluttabile ciclo di amore, sofferenza e morte che la vita propone. OPERE 0030240 Evocazione (Il funerale di Casagemas), 1901, Parigi, Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne È a partire dal 1901, con la notizia del suicidio dell’amico Carlos Casagemas, che il dolore di Picasso si salda a una svolta decisiva della sua pittura, tanto da dichiarare "Ho iniziato a dipingere in blu pensando a Casagemas". Si apre così il periodo blu, legato a temi soffusi di malinconia, in cui è raffigurata una umanità misera, lacera, tragica. La porta d’ingresso a questa galleria di ritratti di sofferta intensità è proprio "L’evocazione", con la quale l’artista sembra al tempo stesso volersi liberare dalla memoria dell’amico, e suggellarla, affidando il ricordo doloroso alla pittura. 0103219 I due saltimbanchi, 1901, Mosca, Museo Pushkin Non ridono e non provocano risa i due saltimbanchi dipinti da Picasso nel suo periodo blu, sono piuttosto chiusi in meditazioni private che non possono comunicare, anche se i loro corpi sono così vicini da essere quasi fusi l’uno nell’altro. La cupa tristezza di Arlecchino e della sua compagna stride con gli abiti variopinti e il cerone di scena, su cui si riverbera il vapore azzurrino che invade l’intero quadro. Nel bar, che riconosciamo per i bicchieri sul tavolo e le linee arabescate della parete, le due figure si stringono, ma tra loro non c’è aiuto, né consolazione. 0030347 Due donne al bar, 1902, New York, Collezione Chrysler Jr. Due donne al bar, di schiena, sono il pretesto per Picasso per costruire una scena equilibrata nell’uso dei campi cromatici dal blu al turchese. Le figure sono costituite da due grandi campiture unite, dilatate, dalle forme sinuose, e sulle schiene curve, ampie, si stampano riflessi opalescenti tra verde e avorio. I volti delle figure sono nascosti, ma ne vediamo le chiome azzurre e brune, profilate di nero. Tra le donne appare la sagoma nitida e semplificata del bicchiere bianco, un inserimento che anticipa quelli che Picasso realizzerà nei collages. 0030245 Celestina, 1904, Parigi, Musée Picasso Secondo Carl Gustav Jung, che nel 1932 dedicò un saggio a Picasso, il periodo blu dell’artista costituisce una sorta di 'discesa agli inferi' per la scelta di rappresentare – e in certo modo di condividere – l’esistenza di poveri e diseredati. Celestina – che è da identificare con Carlota Valdivia, come indica il retro del dipinto – era una mezzana il cui volto, trattato con descrizione naturalistica nella resa dei capelli e della pelle, appare equivoco, per la velatura dell’occhio. 0038244 Donna con bambino, 1903, Barcellona, Museu Picasso Il tema della maternità è frequente nelle opere di Picasso di questo periodo: maternità soffuse di malinconia, di angoscioso quanto irrealizzabile desiderio di protezione. Il pastello ci presenta una madre giovane, ma già segnata dalla sofferenza, che abbraccia il figlioletto avvolto nel suo stesso mantello. La figura della donna è dilatata, sproporzionata rispetto al corpo del bambino e c’è una contraddizione tra l’ampiezza del suo gesto, la luminosità dei volti, dovuta ai tocchi di pastello bianco, e l’espressione malinconica della donna.	Translation - English 2) Bonjour tristesse, the Blue Period Introduction All the way down to the twentieth century, the history of painting has abounded in striking uses of the colour blue, seen as a field on which to meditate, a metaphysical space, the realm of the spirit. Picasso dedicated an entire period to the colour blue, from 1901 to 1904, in which he gave expression to reflections on pain and death and, at the same time, to a whole world growing up on the margins of modern urban society, a world of poverty, misery and solitude. In these three monochrome years Picasso, who was often in Paris, shared the hard life of the humble folk he painted. ANALYSIS OF MASTERPIECES 0030241 Portrait of Jaime Sabartés, 1901, Moscow, Pushkin Museum A friend from early days in Barcelona, the writer Sabartés was to become Picasso’s devoted secretary until his death. In his memoirs, Sabartés commented on the picture which Picasso dedicated to him when they were both young: “I see myself, I look at my image set down on canvas, and I understand what my presence suggested to my friend’s anxious scrutiny: the spectre of my loneliness (…).” Isolated in the centre of the canvas, Sabartés is surprised in a moment of painful meditation, a glass of beer beside him, in a bar of which we can see nothing, neither a detail, a presence, nor a movement. 0103134 The Absinthe Drinker, 1901, St Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum Imprisoned in a shell of melancholy, arms tight against her body, hands disarticulated, talon-like, the Absinthe Drinker is a monument to misery and solitude. Picasso was trying his hand at a subject already depicted in well-known works by Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec , taking the sense of gloom and alienation even further than his predecessors. The figure comes across as shrunken, wrapped up in herself, crammed into a claustrophobic space between table and wall. Before her, the absinthe, cheap liquor which the poor consumed as a substitute for purer spirits. The toxins it contained made absinthe addiction one of the worst social diseases of the day. WH00091 Self-portrait, 1901, Paris, Musée Picasso The picture’s colour: an absolute blue. Picasso paints himself bundled up in a loose-fitting blue overcoat, against a blue background devoid of any landscape or architectural feature. The artist is alone, emerging apparition-like from an indefinable space. The face – the only light note in the picture – is waxen, livid. Picasso is not yet famous, he is barely twenty and struggling to survive in Paris, yet in his pale, emaciated figure placed asymmetrically within the frame, there is a certain monumental quality, if only because of the broad black outline of the overcoat which takes up much of the painting and the expression of lucid awareness. 0065149 The Old Guitarist, 1903, Chicago, The Art Institute The only curved and rounded form in an image full of hard edges and angular bony members is that of the guitar, the picture’s protagonist alongside the guitarist. Everything is veiled in blue: blue, redolent of melancholy and of misery both moral and physical. The old musician is playing a melody that can offer no consolation. He seems not so much to be playing as grasping at the guitar, the one and only solid, unified element present. The old man’s body itself is broken and disjointed, its members unnaturally elongated and arranged in a zigzag. Picasso shows here his interest in El Greco’s visionary, mannerist painting, but also in mediaeval woodcarving, evident in the tormented desiccation and rigidity of the guitarist’s body. 0030242 La Vie (Life), 1903, Cleveland Museum of Art Alfred Barr, the renowned director of the New York Museum of Modern Art, once described Life as “a problematical” work. All the dominant motifs of the Blue Period are present here: solitude, sadness, poverty, suffering, the impossibility of any communication. On the left, a young couple (the man has been seen as a self-portrait of the artist). On the right – opposite, both physically and metaphorically – the figure of a middle-aged woman holding a baby. In the middle, on the wall, two sketches of an embracing couple and a lone figure, all locked in anguished postures and expressions. The title seems to allude to life’s ineluctable cycle of love, suffering and death. WORKS 0030240 Evocation (The Burial of Casagemas), Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne It was from 1901 onwards, with the news of the suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemas, that Picasso’s painting took a decisive turn, so much so that he was to declare “I began to paint in blue, thinking of Casagemas”. Thus began the Blue Period, with its themes suffused with melancholia, illustrating the misery of a wretched, ragged, tragic humanity. The gateway to this gallery of portraits of intense suffering is precisely this Evocation, in which the artist seems at the same time to be trying to free himself of the memory of his friend and to suggest it, both expressing and exorcising pain through paint. 0103219 Two Clowns, 1901, Moscow, Pushkin Museum The two clowns painted by Picasso during his Blue Period provoke neither laughter nor are they themselves laughing, rather, each seems to be closed in some private meditations of his own which he cannot communicate, even though their two bodies are so close that they seem almost fused. The mournful sorrowfulness of Harlequin and his companion contrast with the colourful costumes and stage greasepaint over which there hovers a bluish mist bathing the whole picture. In the bar, which can be identified by the glasses standing on the table and the arabesque lines on the walls, the two figures cling to one another, without aid or consolation. 0030347 Two Women Sitting at a Bar, 1902, New York, Collection of Walter P. Chrysler Jr. Two women at a bar, seen from behind, provide Picasso with the pretext for constructing a balanced scene using chromatic fields veering from blue to turquoise. The figures themselves consist of two broad unified areas, dilated, with sinuous forms, and, on the ample, curved backs, are imprinted opalescent reflections varying from green to ivory. Their faces are hidden but their blue and brown hair can be seen, outlined in black. Between the women, the clear, simplified outline of a white glass, an insertion which prefigures many which Picasso was later to make using collage. 0030245 La Celestina, 1904, Paris, Musée Picasso According to Carl Gustav Jung, in his 1932 essay on Picasso, the chosen subject-matter of the Blue Period makes it a sort of descent into Hell in which the artist depicts and thus somehow comes to share the existence of the poor and discredited. La Celestina, the famous literary procuress, is here identified on the back of the painting as one Carlota Valdivia, a woman of the same profession. Her face is naturalistically handled, including the cataract glazing her left eye . 0038244 Motherhood, 1903, Barcelona, Museu Picasso The theme of maternity crops up frequently in Picasso’s work of this period: motherhood suffused with melancholy and anguish arising out of the unattainable desire for protection. This pastel represents a young woman, already marked by suffering, embracing her little son wrapped in her own overcoat. The woman’s figure is dilated, her hand disproportionate to the child’s body and there is a contradiction between her broad gesture, the luminosity of the two faces, achieved by means of touches of white pastel, and the sadness of her expression.

Bachelor's degree - Selwyn College, Cambridge

Years of experience: 59. Registered at ProZ.com: Oct 2005.

N/A

Traducendo team

Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word

P COLQUHOUN endorses ProZ.com's Professional Guidelines (v1.0).

Bio

From 1970 till late 2002, I was a Translator with the Council of the EU - one of the very first Britons to join that organisation. For most of that time, I was a Senior Translator (L/A 4), which involved much revision of others' work.

We had to handle all kinds of texts, most of them urgent, so there was little specialisation at the Council other than expertise in this or that language. I, for instance, was one of the few highly trusted translators handling Italian texts.

So: much experience with political, legal and economic material.

I have also translated catalogues for art exhibitions, film scripts and subtitles, as well as advertising and PR material.

Among other things, I've edited and proof-read doctoral theses.

I am interested in literary translation and have translated a couple of difficult novels from the Italian, with some acclaim from readers, critics and fellow-translators.

Excellent contacts in the world of classical music.

Lastly, I have some knowledge in relatively unusual areas: Eastern philosophy, religions, in particular Buddhism; bodywork, and "qi" (or vital energy).

#

Of course, most of my professional experience having been as an official of an international institution, I can't produce examples of work performed in that context. I have, however, worked on historic international negotiations and on a number of treaties and international conventions, on EU regulations and directives, political speeches and statements, and attended many international conferences and high-level meetings.

In a private capacity, I have translated material for several documentary films and even done a couple of voice-overs. I have translated quite difficult programme material for exhibitions and artistic events as well as texts relating to spirituality (Advaita Vedanta).

Keywords: EuropeanUnion, politics, economics, literature, art, music, cinema, philosophy, religion, Buddhism. See more.EuropeanUnion,politics,economics,literature,art,music,cinema,philosophy,religion,Buddhism,bio-energy . See less.

Profile last updated
Dec 14, 2010

More translators and interpreters: French to English - Italian to English - Spanish to English More language pairs

Your current localization setting

Select a language

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language