Jul 6, 2011 14:00
12 yrs ago
2 viewers *
français term

noir du monde

français vers anglais Art / Littérature Cinéma, film, TV, théâtre theatre review
I'm really looking for confirmation that I've got the gist of this sentence correctly:
Plus que jamais, cette saison, je vais raconter aux étoiles le noir du monde et raconter les étoiles au noir du monde.
Here's my attempt:
More than ever this season, I’m going to tell the stars about the darkness in the world and tell the world about the stars.

It's from a theatre review, written in an infuriatingly obscure style. I've included the previous sentences here, as I think you need all of the context:

Nous, les adultes, sommes-nous un peu plus pessimistes que les jeunes ?
Les jeunes et les enfants sont-ils un peu plus optimistes ?
Animé par toutes ces pensées je me dirige vers le plateau vide.
Suspendue dans les airs, une balançoire me tend les bras.
Je m’assois dessus et m’élance doucement.
Les fauteuils du théâtre, vides à cet instant, sont autant de regards qui me voient osciller.
Optimisme… Pessimisme… Optimisme…
Maintenant je vois les yeux lumineux qui brillent dans le noir de la salle.
On dirait des étoiles.

Discussion

philgoddard Jul 6, 2011:
Just a little point: you've taken out the comma after "jamais", which changes the meaning.

Proposed translations

47 minutes
Selected

the world's darkness/ darkness of the world

I think you have the gist of the sentence completely correct. I think it's beautiful, actually. I would make some subtle changes, so that the "darkness in the world" seems to be more of an entity, using 'of' or the possessive instead:

This season, more than ever, I'm going to tell the stars about the world's darkness and tell the world's darkness about the stars.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
44 minutes

darkness of the world

I think blackness is fine, but maybe you could even use a starker expression like darkness or gloom in order to better convey the figurative character.
Regarding the first part of the sentence, I would start with "This season" and put the "more than ever" somewhere else, for example, "This season, more than ever,...." or "This season, I will.... more than ever. "
I think the author in a provocative fashion contrasts the realm of art and intellect and things beautiful with our "bad" and "mean" everyday surroundings. He wants to lament about the sorry condition of the world/vile normal life to those far removed from it, and then take back to this world some of the light he received while being with the stars, that is, act as a messenger of the bright and good.
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56 minutes

darkness

I would keep darkness in the second phrase as well: I will speak to the stars of [the] darkness, and to the darkness of [the] stars.

[ Pre "Star Wars," I might have said "the dark side." ;-) ]


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Note added at 57 mins (2011-07-06 14:58:02 GMT)
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Boy, I type slowly. ;-/

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Note added at 1 hr (2011-07-06 15:16:19 GMT)
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Just a note... I think that omitting "of the world" (or "the world's) helps to extend the image of the empty theater.
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5 heures

world's darkness/darkness of/in the world

I think this sentence is expanding the idea of the luminous eyes, like "stars", he imagines are watching in the darkness of the empty theatre; now, they are stars shining in the darkness of the world, i.e. maybe not just about the theatre itself any more but the outside world and sky as well.

So, I'd probably write something like

This season, more than ever, I want/I'd like to tell the (or THESE if still thinking about the eyes=stars) stars about the world's darkness and the world's darkness about the stars.

as for other options, I'd go with "world's darkness" as "darkness of" or "in" the world makes it seem even bleaker and darker to me. Just slightly nuanced in meaning (I think!!)
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7 heures

blackness of the world

Just the color, the opposite of light ...Had the author meant despair or evil or anything of the like he'd have used "noirceur"...
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