perverse possibilité de reconstruire un monde inégal

English translation: the perverse opportunity to recreate an unequal, unjust and violent world

23:15 May 18, 2010

French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / scholarly article

French term or phrase: perverse possibilité de reconstruire un monde inégal

"Une fois habitée, la prison jugule, broie, détruit; mais elle offre aussi la possibilité perverse de reconstruire un monde inégal, injuste, violent."

The "prison" here discussed is not a particular prison, but prison in general. This is from the same article on Kafka as my two previous queries.

Does "reconstruire" here mean rebuild or reconstruct as it was, or reshape in a NEW way? Does reconstruire even have that dual meaning (à la perestroika in Russian, which means rebuild but also restructure and reshape, with the implication of change)?

My instinct is that "reconstruire" here means rebuild as it was, but someone else put doubt in my mind about that, pointing out the fact that the sentence talks about a "perverse possibility." The distinction makes all the difference, because it either has to do with the inequality, injustice, and violence in the world being reinforced, or fought against.

ameliacf KudoZ activity Questions: 17 (1 open) (2 closed without grading) Answers: 1
Local time: 09:21

English translation:the perverse opportunity to recreate an unequal, unjust and violent world

Explanation:
The judicial system is cracked up to treat people equally and to mete out justice. People get sent to prison for violence. Kafka depicted an unequal, unjust and violent society. Prison, in reconstructing or recreating "un monde inégal, injuste, violent" might be seen as mimicking in an exaggerated way the world outside

Selected response from:

B D Finch
France
Local time: 16:21

Grading comment

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +2

the perverse possibility of rebuilding an unequal, unfair and violent world

Chris Hall

4 +1

the perverse opportunity to recreate an unequal, unjust and violent world

B D Finch

Discussion entries: 6

ameliacf

ASKER

21:09 May 19, 2010

It's not too late. Hmm, it's interesting how much of a tie there is between the "the 'opposition' is between the repression of individuals and the reform of society'" and "the 'opposition' is between the destruction of individuals and the reconstruction of an [injust] society" camps.

Philippa Smith

opposition

08:46 May 19, 2010

I think the opposition is between destruction/creation, as in, prison destroys, but also, perversely, provides the option of creating something (even if that something is negative). So it breaks down the world that you inhabited before coming to prison, then lets you create a new (nasty) world. So I think you could happily use "rebuild", or move slightly away from it to use "create a new world, one that is....".

Hope it's not too late to help you on this, but the questions on your Kafka article are very interesting!

ameliacf

ASKER

06:27 May 19, 2010

Not really, you're right.

Melissa McMahon

Australia

Yes, but (:-))...

02:30 May 19, 2010

... if the "reconstruction" is of a destructive world (unfair, violent, unequal), is there really any opposition to the "destruction" in the first part?

ameliacf

ASKER

02:02 May 19, 2010

Yes—the "but" is the real clue here, even more so than the "perverse" (which, after all, is only a modifier). Whatever comes after the semicolon has to be in opposition to what comes before it—however, how do we know the opposition is negative/positive, and not destruction/reconstruction? Thank you for your input. Unfortunately, the text doesn't offer any more clues—the author moves on to the next thought ("A physical prison doubles as a virtual prison..."). I will read the whole thing over again to see, but he basically moves from generalizations about prison into specific treatments of actual Kafka stories.

Melissa McMahon

Australia

Given the "mais"...

01:20 May 19, 2010

... my guess would be "rebuild" in the "reforming" sense. The first part of the sentence describes the negative aspects of prison, unequivocally, "BUT": you'd think that what comes after the BUT would be something positive. That's the only clue I see given here by the language, otherwise "reconstruire" is I think as ambiguous in French as in English. Does the context offer more clues?

Answers

9 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

la perverse possibilité de reconstruire un monde inégal, injuste, violent the perverse possibility of rebuilding an unequal, unfair and violent world

Explanation:
N/T

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Note added at 15 mins (2010-05-18 23:31:01 GMT)
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If you want to know the meaning of "rebuild", then I suggest that you look it up in a dictionary.

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Note added at 56 mins (2010-05-19 00:11:58 GMT)
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Une fois habitée, la prison jugule, broie, détruit; mais elle offre aussi la possibilité perverse de reconstruire un monde inégal, injuste, violent
=
Once detained, prison curbs, crushes and destroys [you]; but it also offers the perverse possibility of rebuilding an unequal, unfair and violent world.

Chris Hall
Local time: 15:21
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 20

Notes to answerer

Asker: I know that's what it literally means, and that's how I translated it; but that doesn't answer my question about the semantic meaning of "rebuild."

Asker: That's not what I meant; I'm clear on the semantic range of "rebuild," but I meant in the context of the sentence. I wanted to know if, in context, "rebuild" meant "rebuild AS IT IS" or "rebuild DIFFERENTLY"; they're the same word with opposite connotations. (Extra note: Why have you translated "habitée" as detained? "Habitée" modifies "prison," not the prisoner—"Once inhabited, a prison curbs, crushes and destroys.")

Asker: I agree that the word is ambiguous, but I was hoping to take away some of the ambiguity. The word "reconstruire" is not responsible, it is true, for clarifying the meaning—but I was asking for help in understanding the meaning in context. There still seems to be a lively debate over whether the opposition (the "but) is between oppression and reform, or between destruction and reconstruction. My query is not about the word "reconstruire" per se as the whole sentence.

8 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

the perverse opportunity to recreate an unequal, unjust and violent world

B D Finch
France
Local time: 16:21
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 43

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perverse possibilité de reconstruire un monde inégal

English translation: the perverse opportunity to recreate an unequal, unjust and violent world

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perverse possibilité de reconstruire un monde inégal

English translation: the perverse opportunity to recreate an unequal, unjust and violent world

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