Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

cualidad de adviento / cualidad adventual

English translation:

quality of build-up and suspense

Added to glossary by Bubo Coroman (X)
Oct 1, 2007 10:17
16 yrs ago
Spanish term

adviento, adventual

Spanish to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
This is from a Spanish novel set in Barcelona in the 1970s. The term "adviento" and "adventual" appear on several occasions. I can only find one meaning which is of course "advent", the period leading up to Christmas. I guess from that, here it means some kind of period of waiting for something or being in limbo?? But how could I translate this into English in the following contexts (my comments in square brackets)?


La vida tenía una extraña cualidad de adviento -perplejidad peligrosa en el niño, tremendamente catastrófica en el adulto, ahora lo sé.

Era la época en que los golfos del Guinardó hacían guerras de piedras en la plaza Sanllehy, y los xavas y trinxas incontrolados y sin colegio se colgaban en los enganches de los tranvías del disco
24; era cuando ellas llevaban bonitos monederos de plexiglás rojo, amarillo o verde, y boinas azules; eran días de «¿Comang se la pela-vu?; con las dos manos y mejor que tú»; era tiempo de adviento. [the narrator is reminiscing about his adolescence in Barcelona]


Aprendí los secretos del revelado y del retocado; pasaron los años y me refugié en el ojo de la cámara y en la biblioteca de Germán (sorpresa que no entusiasmó a Conchi: el fotofija resultó ser hombre leído y culto), donde aclaré no pocas zonas íntimas e hice un descubrimiento importante: aquella cualidad adventual de la vida no había sido un espejismo de la niñez de pariente pobre, sino una premonición de mi actual exilio en provincias y de esta espera que seguía proponiéndome empuñar los remos: verdaderamente como si se tratara del verde archipiélago soñado, como soleadas islas emergiendo entre las brumas grises de la infancia, desde mi destierro andaluz veía constantemente el jardín y la torre de mis primas en la lejana capital del seny... [here the narrator is talking about his period "in exile" in Andalusia and wants to go back to Barcelona, which he sees as paradise]

Thank you in advance!
Change log

Oct 1, 2007 11:51: Bubo Coroman (X) Created KOG entry

Proposed translations

1 hr
Selected

"La vida ..." > Life had an extraordinary quality of build-up and suspense

what he is saying is that the knowledge of the major life events which lay before him, lay just beneath the surface of his conscious mind, as if there were no such thing as present, past or future; and when they happened, of course, it was more like the unveiling of something he already knew about, than something completely new happening.

You can translate the terms freely each time they occur, however they fit the context best, as in this type of text, there is no rule about having to use the same term. You could include the term "build-up" in most or all cases, as it should fit the context, for instance:

"La vida tenía una extraña calidad de adviento" > "Life had an extraordinary quality of build-up and suspense"

"era tiempo de adviento" > "it was a time of build-up and suspense"

"aquella calidad adventual de la vida" > "that quality of building up to a life event still slumbering in my unconscious"
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you very much, you've helped a lot."
+1
26 mins

of anticipation

something along that line, maybe?

perh. of expectation in/of life in the 3rd example -
Peer comment(s):

agree Sandra Rodriguez : could also be "of expectancy"
18 mins
Thank you Sandra - yes :)
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43 mins

hopefulness

hopefulness
adj. feeling or inspiring optimism about a future event

perhaps?

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Note added at 43 mins (2007-10-01 11:00:57 GMT)
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or simply “hope”
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