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está atravesada por

English translation: is a litany of

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:está atravesada por
English translation:is a litany of
Entered by: Thomas Walker

23:00 Dec 11, 2016
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Government / Politics / Current affairs
Spanish term or phrase: está atravesada por
This is from an opinion piece in a Colombian newspaper. The piece is about the standoff at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, in the U.S.; the piece is titled "La batalla de Standing Rock." Here's the paragraph in which the phrase occurs:

"Se trata de la batalla de una tribu de los sioux contra el tramo del oleoducto Dakota Access que pasaría por debajo del río Misuri, su única fuente de agua (y la de millones de estadounidenses) y afectaría sus tierras ancestrales. Como la de tantas otras comunidades nativas, esta historia ***está atravesada por*** el exterminio, la represión y la expulsión sistemática, en buena medida debido al mito de terra nullius, utilizado por los colonizadores de ayer y hoy para aducir que el territorio es “vacío” y sujeto de ocupación “legítima” por el hombre blanco, debido a que los indígenas no lo “poseen” ni lo “producen” en el sentido capitalista de la propiedad privada."

I understand the basic meaning of the phrase, but here it is used in more of a metaphoric sense, and I'm having a tough time coming up with a satisfactory English equivalent. Maybe "overwritten by"?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Thomas Walker
United States
Local time: 18:34
is a litany of
Explanation:
Definition:

Is there a word (or phrase) that describe a series of mishaps ...
english.stackexchange.com/.../is-there-a-word-or-phrase-that-describe-a-...
Nov 13, 2014 - One common formulation is "a litany of troubles [or problems]," where litany has the sense of "a sizable series or set." The entry for litany in Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003) shows an interesting line of meanings:

litany n (13c) 1 : a prayer consisting of a series of invocations and supplications by the leader with alternate responses by the congregation 2 a : a resonant or repetitive chant {a litany of cheering phrases—Herman Wouk} b : a usu. lengthy recitation or enumeration {a familiar litany of complaints} c : a sizable series or set {a litany of problems}

All three of MW's nonliturgical definitions of litany have emerged within the past seventy years—definition 2a in the Seventh Collegiate (1963), definition 2b in the Ninth Collegiate (1983), and definition 2c in the Eleventh Collegiate (2003).

Examples:

Quote by Anne Rice: **“History is a litany of injustice,** no one denies...”
www.goodreads.com/.../847929-history-is-a-litany-of-injusti...
“History is a litany of injustice, no one denies it. But when has a simple solution ever been anything but evil? Only in complexity do we find answers.

**Yankees' last 10 top draft picks is a litany of disaster"** | New York Post
nypost.com/2016/.../yankees-last-10-top-draft-picks-is-a-litany-of-disaste...

www.rabbiwein.com › Bible/ TanachBible/ TanachCHUKAT. The entire book of Bamidbar is **a litany of bad behavior, poor choices and a lack of faith that dooms that generation** – a great generation that left Egypt ...

www.telegraph.co.uk › NewsJul 6, 2016 - Sir John Chilcot's report into the Iraq war is **a litany of sorrows.**
Selected response from:

Muriel Vasconcellos
United States
Local time: 18:34
Grading comment
Thanks Muriel,I thought "litany" worked well in this context, & I ended up going with it in my translation.
Thanks to everybody who weighed in - great discussion, really helped me get unstuck on this.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6is shot through with / is a catalogue of
Charles Davis
4 +6has been fraught with
Marie Wilson
4 +5is a litany of
Muriel Vasconcellos
4characterized by
AllegroTrans
4is shaped / informed / permeated by
Robert Carter
4is one of
David Ronder
3undermined/compromised by
Wendy Streitparth
4 -3imbibed with
Jennifer Levey


  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
characterized by


Explanation:
suggestion

I don't think anything more metaphorical than that is needed

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:34
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 123

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Carol Gullidge: one of several answers that lack the desirable (imo!) negative connotations
13 hrs
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32 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
is shaped / informed / permeated by


Explanation:
A few more choices.

Robert Carter
Mexico
Local time: 19:34
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 100

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Carol Gullidge: one of several answers that lack the desirable (imo!) negative connotations
13 hrs
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34 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
is shot through with / is a catalogue of


Explanation:
Two more ideas, both pretty common set phrases in this context. I think either would work well here. The first is closer to the original, because the metaphor "atravesada" is that extermination, repression and systematic run right through this story in the way a vein runs through a rock, for example.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 44 mins (2016-12-11 23:45:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

An example or two:

"The story is shot through with the tensions and bloody violence between Sri Lanka's Buddhist Sinhalese majority and its Hindu Tamil minority."
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-688-14595-8

"Like This Blinding Absence of Light, this story is a catalogue of the horrors that despots inflicted on men who simply had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
(This refers to concentration camps)
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/joe/tichin.pdf

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 03:34
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 276

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Muriel Vasconcellos: I prefer 'catalogue of'
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, Muriel. On balance, I think I do too. The first one occurred to me as being very close to "atravesada" but still idiomatic.
agree  David Ronder
8 hrs
  -> Thanks, David
agree  neilmac
9 hrs
  -> Cheers, Neil :)
agree  franglish: with Muriel
9 hrs
  -> Thanks, franglish :)
agree  Carol Gullidge: with either!
11 hrs
  -> Thanks, Carol!
agree  philgoddard: I agree with Muriel's and Marie's answers, but you were first.
16 hrs
  -> Thanks, Phil! I think any of them would do, and it's a question of which one Tom likes most.
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -3
imbibed with


Explanation:
Think about it...
... and if all else fails:

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/imbibe
1.1 Absorb or assimilate (ideas or knowledge):
‘if one does not imbibe the culture one cannot succeed’

Metaphorically:
... esta historia ***está atravesada por*** el exterminio, la represión ...
-->
"... this (whole) episode was soaked in extermination, repression ...."

Jennifer Levey
Chile
Local time: 21:34
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 78

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Muriel Vasconcellos: Maybe you were thinking of 'embued'? The word 'imbibe' is misued in your answer. In your first example, the subject of 'imbibe' was a person, who is taking in the culture. Here 'history' is being acted upon.
1 hr
disagree  Andrew Bramhall: with Muriel
7 hrs
disagree  Carol Gullidge: apart from being wrong, this is one of several answers that lack the desirable (imo!) negative connotations
12 hrs
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
is a litany of


Explanation:
Definition:

Is there a word (or phrase) that describe a series of mishaps ...
english.stackexchange.com/.../is-there-a-word-or-phrase-that-describe-a-...
Nov 13, 2014 - One common formulation is "a litany of troubles [or problems]," where litany has the sense of "a sizable series or set." The entry for litany in Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003) shows an interesting line of meanings:

litany n (13c) 1 : a prayer consisting of a series of invocations and supplications by the leader with alternate responses by the congregation 2 a : a resonant or repetitive chant {a litany of cheering phrases—Herman Wouk} b : a usu. lengthy recitation or enumeration {a familiar litany of complaints} c : a sizable series or set {a litany of problems}

All three of MW's nonliturgical definitions of litany have emerged within the past seventy years—definition 2a in the Seventh Collegiate (1963), definition 2b in the Ninth Collegiate (1983), and definition 2c in the Eleventh Collegiate (2003).

Examples:

Quote by Anne Rice: **“History is a litany of injustice,** no one denies...”
www.goodreads.com/.../847929-history-is-a-litany-of-injusti...
“History is a litany of injustice, no one denies it. But when has a simple solution ever been anything but evil? Only in complexity do we find answers.

**Yankees' last 10 top draft picks is a litany of disaster"** | New York Post
nypost.com/2016/.../yankees-last-10-top-draft-picks-is-a-litany-of-disaste...

www.rabbiwein.com › Bible/ TanachBible/ TanachCHUKAT. The entire book of Bamidbar is **a litany of bad behavior, poor choices and a lack of faith that dooms that generation** – a great generation that left Egypt ...

www.telegraph.co.uk › NewsJul 6, 2016 - Sir John Chilcot's report into the Iraq war is **a litany of sorrows.**

Muriel Vasconcellos
United States
Local time: 18:34
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 468
Grading comment
Thanks Muriel,I thought "litany" worked well in this context, & I ended up going with it in my translation.
Thanks to everybody who weighed in - great discussion, really helped me get unstuck on this.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Charles Davis: That's another good one for a succession of unremittingly negative events.
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Charles!
agree  David Ronder
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, David!
agree  neilmac: Or "has been a litany of...."
5 hrs
  -> Thank, Neil!
agree  James A. Walsh: This would be my choice.
7 hrs
  -> Thanks, James!
agree  Carol Gullidge
8 hrs
  -> Thanks, Carol!
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
is one of


Explanation:
i.e. this history is one of extermination, repression and systematic expulsion...

It may seem that this is avoiding the issue to some extent, but I believe it conveys the sense accurately and neatly.

David Ronder
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:34
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 44

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Carol Gullidge: one of several answers that lack the desirable (imo!) negative connotations//one of the meanings of atravesar is "sufrir" (as in "atravesar momentos dificiles"), which seems to be the most appropriate sense in this context.
5 hrs
  -> But Carol, there is nothing inherently negative about 'atravesada por': the negativity comes from the things listed.//But that doesn't match the passive use of the verb here. It's clearly not being used in that sense.
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
has been fraught with


Explanation:
Another possibility. Although "fraught" isn't a translation of "atravesado" it conveys a similar meaning in this context.

Marie Wilson
Spain
Local time: 03:34
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Andrew Bramhall: Neat
26 mins
  -> Thanks, Oliver
agree  neilmac: Nice option - and extra points for the present perfect :)
42 mins
  -> Thanks, Neil
agree  Muriel Vasconcellos
52 mins
  -> Thanks, Muriel
agree  Carol Gullidge: ...trying to figure out if history can be "fraught", but decided it can. In which case, in its sense of "filled with" + something unpleasant, it seems very apt!
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Carol
agree  Marcelo González
11 hrs
  -> Thanks, Marcelo
agree  Catalina Connon: Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for.
393 days
  -> Thanks, Catalina, I'm glad it came in handy!
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15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
undermined/compromised by


Explanation:
Other alternatives

Wendy Streitparth
Germany
Local time: 03:34
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 17
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