Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
Unternehmer seiner Selbst
English translation:
individual as entrepreneur of the self
Added to glossary by
Ramey Rieger (X)
Feb 13, 2015 14:12
9 yrs ago
German term
Unternehmer seiner Selbst
German to English
Art/Literary
Philosophy
Theater performance
I love this term! And I'm frazzled, I would really appreciate a term that captures all the wonderful depth and simplicity of this term
Die neoliberale Wende setzt in den 1970er Jahren ein und lässt den Geldmarkt zum Souverän der Ökonomie werden. Ab jetzt wird aus Geld mehr Geld gezaubert. Der alte Industrie-Kapitalismus erfindet sich neu, in dem er unmerklich, die allmächtige Figur des großen Gläubigers (Finanzmarkt - Finanzkrise - Schuldenkrise) generiert. Damit werden wir alle – der zum Unternehmer seiner Selbst gewordene Mensch, genau wie die arbeitende Arme – in Schuldner verwandelt. Unser Fleisch, unserer Leben, unsere Zukunft und unser Trieb zur Gemeinschaft wird zum Rohstoff der neuen Schulden-Ökonomie.
My translation:
The neoliberal transition began in the 70s and crowned the money market Sovereign of Economy. Money magically generated more money. Fading industrial capitalism reinvented itself by subtly generating the omnipotent Great Creditor (finance market - finance crisis – debt crisis). Thus, we all - the emergent company of myself/marketing me man as well as the working class poor - became debtors. Our flesh, our lives, our future and our yearning for community became the raw materials for the new Economy of Debt.
Die neoliberale Wende setzt in den 1970er Jahren ein und lässt den Geldmarkt zum Souverän der Ökonomie werden. Ab jetzt wird aus Geld mehr Geld gezaubert. Der alte Industrie-Kapitalismus erfindet sich neu, in dem er unmerklich, die allmächtige Figur des großen Gläubigers (Finanzmarkt - Finanzkrise - Schuldenkrise) generiert. Damit werden wir alle – der zum Unternehmer seiner Selbst gewordene Mensch, genau wie die arbeitende Arme – in Schuldner verwandelt. Unser Fleisch, unserer Leben, unsere Zukunft und unser Trieb zur Gemeinschaft wird zum Rohstoff der neuen Schulden-Ökonomie.
My translation:
The neoliberal transition began in the 70s and crowned the money market Sovereign of Economy. Money magically generated more money. Fading industrial capitalism reinvented itself by subtly generating the omnipotent Great Creditor (finance market - finance crisis – debt crisis). Thus, we all - the emergent company of myself/marketing me man as well as the working class poor - became debtors. Our flesh, our lives, our future and our yearning for community became the raw materials for the new Economy of Debt.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+2
27 mins
Selected
individual as entrepreneur of the self
See Foucault
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.istr.org/resource/resmgr/Munste...
https://books.google.de/books?id=rWhBsMFLTsoC&pg=PA179&lpg=P...
auch: entrepreneur of himself/herself
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.istr.org/resource/resmgr/Munste...
https://books.google.de/books?id=rWhBsMFLTsoC&pg=PA179&lpg=P...
auch: entrepreneur of himself/herself
Note from asker:
Thank you Seehand! As an English native speaker, I'm still scouting for a solution that reflects the 'Selbst', capitalized. Perhaps I can simply capitalize Self, but it's still not quite as profound as the German. |
Peer comment(s):
agree |
TonyTK
: Yes, this sounds suitably vague.
58 mins
|
Merci ...
|
|
agree |
Helen Shiner
: Think this is an exact equivalent of the German - self is Selbst and is frequently used in this way in academic texts.
2 hrs
|
Merci ...
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "This has been a highly challenging and enlightening text. I couldn't have done it without you (or at least not NEARLY so elegantly!) Thank you!"
11 mins
self-made entrepreneur
Note from asker:
Thank you Lancashireman! |
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
heidi (X)
: It's ' der zum Unternehmer seiner Selbst gewordene Mensch' and not 'selbstgemachter Unternehmer'.
15 hrs
|
See comment by Erik Freitag: "Either way, the German sentence is incorrect." http://www.duden.de/suchen/dudenonline/selbst Substantiv, Neutrum // I'm curious: Why did you think 'soul-seller' was the bingo translation here?
|
39 mins
in the business of self-promoting
My take on this
Note from asker:
Many thanks Donald! |
1 hr
entrepeneurs of their own (fortune)
or "entrepeneurs of their own lives/destiny..."
Note from asker:
Thank you, Michael! |
+1
11 mins
entrepreneur on his own behalf
First of all, the source is misspelt, should be "selbst".
That aside, I'm not sure why the literal translation "entrepreneur on his own behalf" shouldn't work, but I'm not working into English, so this is just an idea to get things rolling.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 Min. (2015-02-13 14:28:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I see! It didn't occur to me that this underlying note isn't conveyed by "own behalf".
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 Min. (2015-02-13 14:32:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Would "in his own cause" change that? Sorry if I'm really just guessing here.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 Stunde (2015-02-13 15:23:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
If "Selbst" is intentionally capitalized, we do indeed lose a misspelling, but at the cost of wrong grammar: In this case, it must be "seines Selbst".
Either way, the German sentence is incorrect.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 Stunde (2015-02-13 15:38:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Quite possibly. Didn't you just recently argue against conveniently creating language? If the source text does, why shouldn't you?
Anyway, I really rather suspect ignorance than artistic licence in this case.
Of course, all this doesn't really help with your question - sorry for that, just felt like pointing it out, if only because looking at "seiner Selbst" is the visual equivalent to scraping fingernails on a chalkboard.
That aside, I'm not sure why the literal translation "entrepreneur on his own behalf" shouldn't work, but I'm not working into English, so this is just an idea to get things rolling.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 Min. (2015-02-13 14:28:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I see! It didn't occur to me that this underlying note isn't conveyed by "own behalf".
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 Min. (2015-02-13 14:32:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Would "in his own cause" change that? Sorry if I'm really just guessing here.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 Stunde (2015-02-13 15:23:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
If "Selbst" is intentionally capitalized, we do indeed lose a misspelling, but at the cost of wrong grammar: In this case, it must be "seines Selbst".
Either way, the German sentence is incorrect.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 Stunde (2015-02-13 15:38:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Quite possibly. Didn't you just recently argue against conveniently creating language? If the source text does, why shouldn't you?
Anyway, I really rather suspect ignorance than artistic licence in this case.
Of course, all this doesn't really help with your question - sorry for that, just felt like pointing it out, if only because looking at "seiner Selbst" is the visual equivalent to scraping fingernails on a chalkboard.
Note from asker:
Hi Erik and thank you! Your suggestion is good, but what I'm missing the concept of selling yourSelf, which is implied. |
The Selbst is intentionally capitalized, as you've deduced. There are such things are brilliant guesses! |
Poetic/artistic license, I suppose! |
OUCH! |
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Anne Schulz
: Agree with your comments (and wonder whether profuse spreading of commas is artistic license as well ;-))
16 hrs
|
+1
5 hrs
selling ourselves to the highest bidder
I don't think "entrepreneur of the self" conveys a clear meaning - you have to stop reading and work out what it means.
Note from asker:
Thank you Phil! |
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Anne Schulz
: "Self-selling entrepreneur", or "the entrepreneur with a capitalized Self"? (sorry, couldn't resist!)
11 hrs
|
+1
13 hrs
soul-seller
I think this covers it
Peer comment(s):
agree |
heidi (X)
: Bingo!
2 hrs
|
Discussion
Kurz zusammengefasst: "seiner" ist das Personalpronomen der 3. Pers., Singular, m./n., während "selbst" ein rückweisendes Demonstrativpronomen ist. Eine ungrammatikalische, aber vielleicht leichter verständliche Formulierung für "seiner selbst" wäre "von sich selbst".
So wird auch deutlich, warum der deutsche Ausgangssatz hier wirklich falsch ist (entweder hinsichtlich der Rechtschreibung, oder hinsichtlich der Grammatik).
Der in der englischen Sprache gelegentlich vorzufindende Versuch, einem Wort durch Großschreibung eine besondere Bedeutung zu verleihen, funktioniert eben im Deutschen nicht. Da muss man sich was anderes überlegen.
I don't think "crowned the money market sovereign of economy" makes sense. This is partly because you've left out the definite article before "economy", but you could express it more clearly by saying something like "making the money markets the dominant force in the economy."
Also, "generating the omnipotent great creditor" is not clear. I think the idea is basically "reinvented itself by becoming the great universal creditor", or even simply "loaned out money left, right and centre."
And you don't need all those initial capitals either.
Hope this helps!