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à partir du Passé et de la projection du Futur

English translation: [See my suggestion]

17:30 May 6, 2015
French to English translations [PRO]
Government / Politics / academic abstract
French term or phrase: à partir du Passé et de la projection du Futur
Hi everyone! I'm translating the following academic abstract and am struggling a little with this phrase. Thanks for your help!

La Composition Politique de l’Angola
(après la victoire du MPLA aux élections du 31 Aout 2012)
Résumé
Le Présent se construit ***à partir du Passé et de la projection du Futur***. C’est précisément cela que l’Angola fait en ce moment. Le moteur principal, c’est effectivement le MPLA et en grande mesure le président José Eduardo dos Santos (JES) et son «petit comité» de confiance. Depuis les dernières élections du 31 Aout 2012, il existe une nouvelle légitimité nationale du pouvoir du président et du MPLA, aussi envers l’extérieur, effectivement exprimée par le vote et une victoire d’environ 70%. Pour le moment, on ne vérifie ni ne prévoit aucun changement significatif dans la composition politique qui se constitue jusqu’ici comme la base du status quo d’Angola depuis la paix installé en 2002. Sans rupture ou altération profonde dans la composition politique, on est devant un scenario d’évolution dans la continuité et il faudra attendre deux ou trois ans pour qu’on puisse voir si JES et le MPLA ont ou non frustré les expectatives des Angolais.
Mots clés : Élections ; continuité politique; MPL ; Angola.
Lindsay Spratt
France
Local time: 02:58
English translation:[See my suggestion]
Explanation:
I don't think you can stay too close to the original without sounding awkward. I suggest: "A country's self-image combines visions of its past and its future."
You could continue with something like: "This is very much the case in Angola right now. The main driver of these visions is the MPLA..."
Selected response from:

philgoddard
United States
Grading comment
This is what I went for in the end. Thanks for your help!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1[See my suggestion]
philgoddard
4 +1The present is shaped by the past and one's projection onto the future
Francois Boye
4 +1shaped by the past and by our vision of the future
B D Finch
3 +1on the building blocks of the past as a stepping stone to the future
Andrew Bramhall
3by looking back at the past and ahead to the future
ormiston
3What happens now is shaped by what has gone before and what is yet to come
Nikki Scott-Despaigne


  

Answers


25 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
[See my suggestion]


Explanation:
I don't think you can stay too close to the original without sounding awkward. I suggest: "A country's self-image combines visions of its past and its future."
You could continue with something like: "This is very much the case in Angola right now. The main driver of these visions is the MPLA..."

philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 42
Grading comment
This is what I went for in the end. Thanks for your help!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks Phil, this is very helpful!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  AllegroTrans: good suggestion
6 mins
  -> Thanks.
disagree  Daryo: nice sounding figure of speech, but I don't see anywhere in this ST any mention by the author of anyone's "self-image" - there are limits to poetic licence...
10 hrs
  -> And I don't see any mention in my answer of the word "problem".
agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: If you stick close to the original, it is difficult to sound natural. I agree that distance is probably the best solution. Poetic licence is fine in this context. PS. I'd use "driving force" not "driver".
15 hrs
  -> Thanks. Shame Daryo doesn't believe in poetic licence!
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48 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
The present is shaped by the past and one's projection onto the future


Explanation:
my take

Francois Boye
United States
Local time: 20:58
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  AllegroTrans: not "projection onto" but maybe "into" or "toward"// this is hardly about topology, come on...
2 hrs
  -> "projection onto" is the norm in topology (projecting a space onto a subspace)
agree  Daryo: one's vision/projection of the future
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, Daryo!
neutral  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: I like "shaped by the past" for the first part as it conveys an idea of construction. The second half sounds much less natural. I like this 1st half and Ormiston's 2nd half.
14 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
on the building blocks of the past as a stepping stone to the future


Explanation:
"The present is constructed on the building blocks of the past as a stepping stone to the future"
Agree with Phil, you can't be too literal here; but the idea as outlined lower down in the context is seamless continuity and evolution built on tried and trusted values that have worked so far; hence my suggestion as a way of tying all this together.

Andrew Bramhall
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:58
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Chakib Roula: I like this phrasing.
45 mins
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
by looking back at the past and ahead to the future


Explanation:
Note, not back TO the past!

ormiston
Local time: 02:58
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: I like the second part "looking ahead". My criticism of the first part is that it does not render the idaea of "building"
12 hrs
  -> the verb did not appear in the posting but I like 'shape' as added to another suggested translation
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15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
What happens now is shaped by what has gone before and what is yet to come


Explanation:
ANother suggestion among many possibilities

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2015-05-07 08:57:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I think the important elements to convey are the idea that the present is inevitably shaped by the past and by what lies ahead. The past in buildt, gone, finished. Where we are now is a result of what has already ben done and it cannot be changed; we have to live with it. However, the present is also shaped by what lies ahead, insofar as decisions will be made now taking into account how the future is perceived. Unlike the past, about which nothing can be done, although the future cannot be controlled entirely, the decisions of "here and now" are history in the making, but unknown.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2015-05-07 08:59:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I think that you need to convey the essential of the original but tat you have a little poetic licence. You need a nice balanced opener!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2015-05-07 09:04:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The past is known : it's too late to do anything about it.
The future is unknown : so we try to take it into account - and hope perhaps to influence its course but do not control everything everywhere.

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 02:58
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 31
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15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
shaped by the past and by our vision of the future


Explanation:
The past is given and so I agree with François' rendering of the first bit and like his choice of "shaped by". However, I think it is necessary to depart a little from the French to translate the second part. The future is not a given and it is the "projection", one's vision of the future that affects the present.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2015-05-07 09:07:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

It seems natural in English, and appropriate to the context, to use the possessive "our", identifying with and sharing the sentiment.

Example sentence(s):
  • The present is shaped by the past and by our vision of the future.
B D Finch
France
Local time: 02:58
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 123

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Daryo: exactly that - no need to go wandering into "self-image" territory ... "our vision of the future" = proactive approach, these are politicians talking, not passive observers
1 day 15 hrs
  -> Thanks Daryo. Yes, that's how I read it.
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