Französisch: Je vous connais, beau masqueEnglisch translation: The mask that reveals the self 
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| Glossareintrag (aus Frage unten abgeleitet) | | Französisch Begriff oder Satz: | Je vous connais, beau masque | | Englisch Übersetzung: | The mask that reveals the self | | Eingetragen von: | Dee Braig |
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Übersetzungen Französisch > Englisch [PRO]
Art/Literary - Anthropologie / folklore, museography | | Französisch Begriff oder Satz: Je vous connais, beau masque | Hi Friends,
me again with another weird one.
The full phrase is "je vous connais, beau masque"
The context: Text introducing an exhibition of masks of the world. The other introductory phrase is "Je est un autre" [Rimbaud].
Now the problem is how to render this appropriately in EN. Please bear in mind that:
1. I fully understand what this means: literally, "beautiful mask"
metaphorically, "I know who you are / I can see through you / I know there is a duplicity to you", as "masque" here is metonymy for "masked one", the person behind the mask, but also as the new [as masked] entity; but fundamentally, repartee at a masked ball prior to the midnight unmasking.
2. There doesn't seem to be a clear origin for the phrase as a quotation, as opposed to the Rimbaud mentioned above.
3. A literal translation would be "I know you, beautiful mask" [so don't waste your time giving me this one :) ]
4. The problem is that "je te/vous connais, beau masque" strikes a chord of meaning in a French speaking audience, as the expression has been incorporated into everyday language. However, a literal EN translation does no such thing for me.
So, I'm looking for what the real/a better equivalent might be in EN, ideally still containing the word "mask" [because of being an intro to the exhibition] or at least something that retains the notion of duplicity and/or presumed recognition due to expectation/familiarity.
Thank you veryvery much, and I need the answer in the course of the day/evening as this MUST be finally delivered tomorrow morning early to the client [currently already at proofing stage]
Dee |
| | Notiz(en) an den/des Fragesteller(s)Michel Lévy: 7:26am May 5, 2005: "The problem is that "je te/vous connais, beau masque" strikes a chord of meaning in a French speaking audience, as the expression has been incorporated into everyday language." not at all (afaik, there's nothing like that in the everyday language ;-) -
Dee Braig (asker): 11:32am May 5, 2005: Several highly educated native speakers of French [PhD level] I consulted all recognised it as a set expression. Sorry if it doesn't work for you ...
Michel Lévy: 11:36am May 5, 2005: That's the point "highly educated native speakers of French [PhD level]" but it's definitely not been "incorporated into everyday language" (though I do know this expression myself", I checked several dictionaries, do you have WRITEN referencies? -
Pierre Renault: 11:43am May 5, 2005: I have a question:
With all those PHD's you consulted that all recognised it as a set expression, did anyone of them come up with a set meaning for the phrase?
Its one thing to **say** it is a set expression, its another thing for it to **be** a set e -
Dee Braig (asker): 12:02pm May 5, 2005: to mactrad - Can't find connection with Satchmo, if you do mean Louis Armstrong. Can you enlighten please? This is otherwise very fitting for the overall flow of my text.
Dee Braig (asker): 12:10pm May 5, 2005: To Cheung Mo - Very interesting comment. The point is less whether it is a set expression in FR than that it strikes an immediate chord, and I need something of equal "clout" in EN. Your own suggestion is alas completely out of range for the register of the piece. "Life is a masquerade" is nice but equally undocumentable other than a spinoff from either "Life is a CABARET, oh chum" [Oh Liza!] or a tergiversation of "[All of] life is a stage and we are but the actors" [Bill]. "The mask that reveals" is a beautiful piece of prose, but I need more of a full phrase ... "the mask that reveals the self", perhaps? The next sentence is [my xlat] "Masks are omnipresent in our literature and in our lives".
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| | Ausgewählte Antwort von:
Dylan Edwards
Vereinigtes Königreich
| Hinweis von Fragesteller an den AntwortendenThis fit my context best, and has the same "feel" of a set phrase as the original beau masque. Thanks very much!
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24 Min. Antwortsicherheit:   Zustimmung (Netto): +4 |
| Je vous connais, beau masque URGENTISH what the mask cannot hide
Erklärung:
Famous poem by African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar
We Wear the Mask.
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes--
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile
And mouth with myriad subtleties,
Why should the world be over-wise.
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but oh great Christ, our cries
To Thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile,
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask !
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The translation workplace 
