où il s’incarnait d’une poignée de religieux

English translation: was dominated by a handful of priests

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:où il s’incarnait d’une poignée de religieux
English translation:was dominated by a handful of priests
Entered by: Lara Barnett

14:31 Apr 4, 2019
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama / Essay on Quebecois cinema
French term or phrase: où il s’incarnait d’une poignée de religieux
This text has just begun by explaining how Canada has always shown the tensions of its society, and its fears and aspirations. Then:

Des premiers temps, où il s’incarnait via le cinéma ethnologique d’une poignée de religieux, aux succès planétaires de Denys Arcand, Xavier Dolan et Denis Villeneuve, son histoire, demeure étonnamment constante à travers les changements d’époques et les modes.

Something like:

"From its earliest times, when it used ethnological cinema to present a handful of religious films...." ???
Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:27
was dominated by a handful of priests
Explanation:
I assume that when you say Canada, you mean Québecois cinema.

"From 1896 to the 1960s, **the Catholic clergy tried to control what movies Quebecers could see.** Two methods were employed: censorship and prohibition of attendance by children under 16. In 1913, the Bureau de censure de vues animées (Office of censorship for motion pictures) began regulating the projection of movies in Quebec. In 1927, the Laurier-Palace theatre burned down, killing many children. The church then almost succeeded at closing down all projection rooms in the province. However, the Parliament of Quebec passed a law preventing only children under 16 from attending movie projections. This law would be repealed only in 1961.

Nevertheless, some films were produced in Quebec during this period. Those were mostly documentaries, **some of which were made by priests**.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Quebec

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Note added at 14 mins (2019-04-04 14:46:50 GMT)
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I've just noticed that your question doesn't match what the text says, so you'll have to tweak my translation to incorporate "cinéma ethnologique". Something like "consisted mainly of ethnographic documentaries made by a handful of priests".
Selected response from:

philgoddard
United States
Grading comment
Thank you.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5was dominated by a handful of priests
philgoddard
4 +1when it was represented by [the X of] a handful of priests [clergymen, etc.]
Eliza Hall
3when it (Canada/Quebec cinema) was figuratively given flesh and blood by a handful of clerics
Adrian MM.


Discussion entries: 9





  

Answers


10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
was dominated by a handful of priests


Explanation:
I assume that when you say Canada, you mean Québecois cinema.

"From 1896 to the 1960s, **the Catholic clergy tried to control what movies Quebecers could see.** Two methods were employed: censorship and prohibition of attendance by children under 16. In 1913, the Bureau de censure de vues animées (Office of censorship for motion pictures) began regulating the projection of movies in Quebec. In 1927, the Laurier-Palace theatre burned down, killing many children. The church then almost succeeded at closing down all projection rooms in the province. However, the Parliament of Quebec passed a law preventing only children under 16 from attending movie projections. This law would be repealed only in 1961.

Nevertheless, some films were produced in Quebec during this period. Those were mostly documentaries, **some of which were made by priests**.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Quebec

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 mins (2019-04-04 14:46:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I've just noticed that your question doesn't match what the text says, so you'll have to tweak my translation to incorporate "cinéma ethnologique". Something like "consisted mainly of ethnographic documentaries made by a handful of priests".

philgoddard
United States
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 47
Grading comment
Thank you.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Caterina Aguiló
2 mins

neutral  Tom Weber: It seems to be true from your excellent source that Quebec film was dominated by the church, but that is not in the text, which only says "s'incarnait," so I support your note with "consisted mainly"
30 mins
  -> Thanks! So you agree with my amended answer.

agree  Ph_B (X): "consisted mainly of ethnographic documentaries made by a handful of priests"
55 mins

agree  Alexandra Speirs: I agree with the ethnographic documentaries
3 hrs

agree  Yvonne Gallagher: "consisted mainly of ethnographic documentaries made by a handful of priests"
3 hrs

agree  Charles Davis: Depending on what "il" refers to, your last suggestion is suitable.
23 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
when it was represented by [the X of] a handful of priests [clergymen, etc.]


Explanation:
I'm assuming that the "il" in "il s'incarnait" refers to Canadian (or maybe French-Canadian) cinema. That assumption is based on the reference to "cinéma éthnologique" and the fact that all the names are French-Canadian movie directors or movie actors.

So the full translation would be, "when it was represented by the ethnological films of a handful of priests" (or clergymen, or clerics, or priests and nuns, or even Catholics -- you know the context so you'll know which translation of "religieux" works best here).



Eliza Hall
United States
Local time: 06:27
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Shabelula: Reverso Context would also give this verb as "represented" by
26 mins

neutral  philgoddard: I don't understand the difference between "consisted of" and "represented by".
56 mins
  -> It's subtle, but "X consisted of Y" means X was entirely made up of Y. "X was represented by Y" leaves wiggle room: maybe ethnographic films by priests were most, but not all of the earliest Canadian cinema.
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
when it (Canada/Quebec cinema) was figuratively given flesh and blood by a handful of clerics


Explanation:
We do need to know what the 'il' - le Canada from the opening para - refers to and perhaps, before Easter Time, instead of flat translations, to retain the religious imagery or metaphor of incarnation as, according to the Latin root, being 'embodied' in flesh.

An alternative like 'fleshed out' would suggest expanded on-

Example sentence(s):
  • Religion the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist flesh and blood, an expression of the church father Justin Martyr

    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesh_and_Blood
Adrian MM.
Austria
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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