annehmen

English translation: adopts/assumes/takes a gentle/soft violence

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:annehmen
English translation:adopts/assumes/takes a gentle/soft violence
Entered by: Helen Shiner

09:58 Jul 24, 2017
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
German term or phrase: annehmen
dann nimmt das Land eine sanfte Gewalt an

What does "annehmen" mean in this sentence?

This is from something Peter Huchel wrote in 1932.
Silvia Stefani (X)
Italy
Local time: 10:09
adopts/assumes/takes a gentle/soft violence
Explanation:
becomes softly violent

Some suggestions. Blue-green algae is pretty toxic to animals. It appears suddenly at a certain time of year, and although pretty in some lights, it is a bit threatening. Anyway, this is how I read it, in as far as one can without comprehending the repeated veiled hints at threats in this book.

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Note added at 1 hr (2017-07-24 11:39:30 GMT)
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That should be 'takes on'.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2017-07-24 12:45:50 GMT)
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I have retained the word 'violence', because, having answered several of your questions, and thus seen several passages from this book, it strikes me that the author likes dissonance. By this I mean, sudden use of striking words that jar with the rest of the rather poetic text.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2017-07-24 12:46:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Excuse comma in the wrong place.

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Note added at 1 day22 hrs (2017-07-26 08:30:59 GMT)
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Dissonance is a literary device, indeed it is used in many other contexts, too, used to jolt the reader, possibly shock them. It was very prevalent in the arts in Germany at this time, in literature, music, and the visual arts. Using a description of the landscape to suggest threat or violence of a political nature had been done many times from Charles Dickens's Tale of Two Cities to Anna Seghers. Maybe that's what Huchel's doing here; it's 1932 and there were signs of encroaching violence everywhere in Germany by then. He went on to fight for the Nazi regime though. Maybe he just wanted to find a way of describing the threat that blue-green algae suddenly forming on a body of water represents.

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Note added at 2 days5 hrs (2017-07-26 15:10:05 GMT)
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Blue-green algae: http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/caringfor/policies/algae
Selected response from:

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:09
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4adopts/assumes/takes a gentle/soft violence
Helen Shiner
3 +3gently reminds you of its elemental power
Björn Vrooman


Discussion entries: 16





  

Answers


1 day 7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
gently reminds you of its elemental power


Explanation:
As posted in the discussion box:
"(gehoben) elementare Kraft von zwingender Wirkung"
http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Gewalt

Naturgewalt(en) = force(s) of nature / elemental force(s) / elemental power(s)

Cf
"It can be so peaceful, then the river reminds you of its strength and your heart pounds with excitement."
https://conservationphotographers.org/1frame4nature-art-wolf...
+
https://views.austria.info/de/category/text/72#!/11103
+
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elemental-Power-Celtic-Druidic-Llew...

Here’s another poem, this time about the “sanfte Gewalt” of a tree:
“was selbst die Kriege nicht geschafft, das vollbringt die Birke mit sanfter Gewalt und macht auch vor Menschenwerk nicht halt.“

http://www.kirchbrak.de/chronik/gelbehefte/heft19/kap1923.ht...

We can argue about the position of "gently" in the sentence above, but in my humble opinion, you cannot translate this literally, and I think you should be aware of the period in which the poem was written. This is the 1930s. It’s neo-romanticism (at least, in Germany):

"Artists such as John Piper and Graham Sutherland turned to a traditional means of representation in the wake of the unprecedented damage and loss of life. Like the first Romantics, they drew upon a wide range of literary sources, whilst nature was considered to be an elemental force capable of inspiring sublime emotional reaction."
http://www.pallant.org.uk/docs/phg_keith_vaughan__teaching_n...

You’d think about Dylan Thomas, Robert Louis Stevenson and others (even if their works had been published earlier). It's "naturmagisch"--supernatural, magical, enchanted, or even awe-inspiring--not a violent episode (“Zauber”):

"What was produced, intentionally or otherwise was a veneration of the romantic past and the cultivation of a supernatural, idealistic or even prophetic sense of the British landscape together with a yearning for beauty and innocence, that in all conveyed an arcadian existence."
http://www.artbiogs.co.uk/2/movements/neo-romanticism

This one is “not shrouded in a veil of romanticism,” but it’s a good example for comparison:
http://www.campdengallery.co.uk/catalogues/jshearer.pdf

It may even sound “bombastic,” but not really threatening:
https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/autumn_fires_7667

Additionally, Huchel drew on his childhood memories for the rest of his life [which is where "reminds you of" comes in]:
"Das lyrische Werk Huchels ist wie kein anderes mit der Landschaft und den Bewohnern der Mark Brandenburg verbunden. Das trifft nicht nur für die naturmagischen Gedichte seines Frühwerks zu [...]"
http://www.peter-huchel-haus.de/Peter Huchel

Be aware, though, that this was written before WWII. AFAIK, Huchel did become “gloomier” later in life because of his works being used by the Nazis for their own purposes and his time spent in the German Democratic Republic.

You also need to take the next sentence into account. It describes the beauty of that landscape. Nature may be a "harsh mistress," as one translator of Huchel's works calls it, but I'd take this statement with a grain of salt in this context.

More tags: raw/relentless/subtle/sublime/unyielding


Björn Vrooman
Local time: 10:09
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Lancashireman: That's more like it :-)
1 hr
  -> Thanks! Nowadays, Brandenburg offers wild western towns: http://www.eldorado-templin.de/ Who knows, in ten years we may be back here, discussing John Wayne references :-)

agree  Ramey Rieger (X): Excellent!
13 hrs
  -> Thanks, Ramey!

neutral  Helen Shiner: This distorts the force of the text. It is sanfte Gewalt not sanft annehmen. Annehmen is an active verb, not a passive one, and simply does not mean to remind one of. This is not Neo-Romanticism, that's post-war revisionism./The style label is irrelevant.
15 hrs
  -> I think it's close. These are his early works; it's the "naturmagische Schule": http://www.arnshaugk.de/diktynna/die_naturmagische_schule.ht... Not even sure that isn't a category of its own. And "annehmen" is a very "weak" active verb (cf Duden).

agree  Herbmione Granger: Agree mostly with the interpretation :) / The progression is stagnant to flowing. Any further info is above my pay grade ;)
21 hrs
  -> Thanks! "sanfte Gewalt" http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/berlin-vor-der-wahl-die-fl... / "gentle power": http://keystonefund.org/success-story/natures-gentle-power. Could be! Farm -> lake (reclaimed by nature).
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
adopts/assumes/takes a gentle/soft violence


Explanation:
becomes softly violent

Some suggestions. Blue-green algae is pretty toxic to animals. It appears suddenly at a certain time of year, and although pretty in some lights, it is a bit threatening. Anyway, this is how I read it, in as far as one can without comprehending the repeated veiled hints at threats in this book.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2017-07-24 11:39:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

That should be 'takes on'.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2017-07-24 12:45:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I have retained the word 'violence', because, having answered several of your questions, and thus seen several passages from this book, it strikes me that the author likes dissonance. By this I mean, sudden use of striking words that jar with the rest of the rather poetic text.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2017-07-24 12:46:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Excuse comma in the wrong place.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day22 hrs (2017-07-26 08:30:59 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Dissonance is a literary device, indeed it is used in many other contexts, too, used to jolt the reader, possibly shock them. It was very prevalent in the arts in Germany at this time, in literature, music, and the visual arts. Using a description of the landscape to suggest threat or violence of a political nature had been done many times from Charles Dickens's Tale of Two Cities to Anna Seghers. Maybe that's what Huchel's doing here; it's 1932 and there were signs of encroaching violence everywhere in Germany by then. He went on to fight for the Nazi regime though. Maybe he just wanted to find a way of describing the threat that blue-green algae suddenly forming on a body of water represents.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days5 hrs (2017-07-26 15:10:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Blue-green algae: http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/caringfor/policies/algae

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:09
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 139
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard
1 min
  -> Thanks, Phil.

agree  milinad
1 hr
  -> Thanks, milinad

agree  gangels (X)
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, gangels

agree  Harald 4711: Lyrik ist oft schwierig. Wenn es möglich ist, Mehrdeutigkeiten über die Sprachgrenze zu erhalten und dem Leser die Interpretation zu überlassen, ist es gut.
11 hrs
  -> Danke, Harald; finde ich auch.
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