Jul 21, 2009 21:05
14 yrs ago
German term
tapfer beküßt gemachte letzte Ferne
German to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
literature
In a 1941 letter, an author has just declined a proposal (related to Goethe?) from a friend. He first says he can't spare the time, but then he continues:
In der Goethe-Welt war ich lange eingesponnen, und wenn ich diese Welt selbst das Spezialistische daran scheue, das mag der ••tapfer beküßt gemachte letzte Ferne•• meiner Hemmung und meines „Versagens“ sein, — obgleich die Anderen keine Vormunde sind.
I can't quite grasp what he is saying with this phrase. Any help would be appreciated.
In der Goethe-Welt war ich lange eingesponnen, und wenn ich diese Welt selbst das Spezialistische daran scheue, das mag der ••tapfer beküßt gemachte letzte Ferne•• meiner Hemmung und meines „Versagens“ sein, — obgleich die Anderen keine Vormunde sind.
I can't quite grasp what he is saying with this phrase. Any help would be appreciated.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 2 | a past that he has bravely kissed goodbye |
Annett Kottek (X)
|
| 3 | . |
Peter Manda (X)
|
Proposed translations
2 hrs
Selected
a past that he has bravely kissed goodbye
This might be way off the mark, but here it goes….
The author had been immersed in that world for a long time, he is now reluctant to go back to it, even its expert field (‘das Spezialistische daran’), because there had been a failure of some kind. That said, the author might not take that view himself, as he puts ‘Versagen’ in quotation marks. He goes on to mention others (‘die Anderen’), who seem to be self-appointed guardians or custodian (‘Vormunde’) in that ‘Goethe-Welt’ - - although the author stresses that they are no such thing (sie sind ‘keine Vormunde’). Did the author commit a faux pas that offended those custodians? His failure was perhaps in the eyes of the others, and not the author himself. That would explain his 'Hemmung' and the quotation marks.
As regards ‘tapfer beküßt gemachte letzte Ferne’: he seems to have bravely (i.e. regrettably) kissed that past goodbye. I have a huge problem with the article ‘der’ because it does not correspond to the noun, which is ‘Ferne’. It should be ‘die Ferne’.
Ferne
a) Abstand, Entfernung, Raum, Spanne, Strecke, Zwischenraum; (bildungsspr.): Distanz.
b) entferntes Land, Übersee, [weite] Welt; (geh.): Fremde.
© Duden - Das Synonymwörterbuch, 4. Aufl. Mannheim 2007 [CD-ROM]
I’m wondering if ‘Ferne’, read as 'distant past' or 'distant land', relates in some way to the ‘Goethe-Welt’ metaphor? Anyway, there seems to be some dissociation going on here on the part of the author (e.g. ‘letzte’ intensifies ‘Ferne’). I cannot make any more of ‘gemachte’ than observe that the author is vague and cryptic, and he also appears to be highly agitated.
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Note added at 9 hrs (2009-07-22 07:01:38 GMT)
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‘der (tapfer beküßt) Gemachte’?
Could one say that the author tried to personify his scruples (‘Hemmung’)? He wants to explain that his reluctance to re-enter that world is an expression of his ‘Hemmung’ and, perhaps, a ‘Versagen’. Or, his reluctance (‘scheue’) to return to this world is due to his scruples or inhibitions (‘Hemmung’) – but that looks like a tautology. I think I’m explaining this very badly…. Maybe someone else can jump in….
My google search for ‘der Gemachte’ returns a poem by Rudolf Lavant (1844-1915) - ‘Der Gemachte Mann’, which is from a collection of his poetry that was published in 1965 (3rd edition). No idea if that is at all relevant (or, indeed, how well known the poet/poem is/was), but its speaker is someone who has retreated from public life, who sounds rather bitter and cynical, and who questions the powers that be:
http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Der_gemachte_Mann
The author had been immersed in that world for a long time, he is now reluctant to go back to it, even its expert field (‘das Spezialistische daran’), because there had been a failure of some kind. That said, the author might not take that view himself, as he puts ‘Versagen’ in quotation marks. He goes on to mention others (‘die Anderen’), who seem to be self-appointed guardians or custodian (‘Vormunde’) in that ‘Goethe-Welt’ - - although the author stresses that they are no such thing (sie sind ‘keine Vormunde’). Did the author commit a faux pas that offended those custodians? His failure was perhaps in the eyes of the others, and not the author himself. That would explain his 'Hemmung' and the quotation marks.
As regards ‘tapfer beküßt gemachte letzte Ferne’: he seems to have bravely (i.e. regrettably) kissed that past goodbye. I have a huge problem with the article ‘der’ because it does not correspond to the noun, which is ‘Ferne’. It should be ‘die Ferne’.
Ferne
a) Abstand, Entfernung, Raum, Spanne, Strecke, Zwischenraum; (bildungsspr.): Distanz.
b) entferntes Land, Übersee, [weite] Welt; (geh.): Fremde.
© Duden - Das Synonymwörterbuch, 4. Aufl. Mannheim 2007 [CD-ROM]
I’m wondering if ‘Ferne’, read as 'distant past' or 'distant land', relates in some way to the ‘Goethe-Welt’ metaphor? Anyway, there seems to be some dissociation going on here on the part of the author (e.g. ‘letzte’ intensifies ‘Ferne’). I cannot make any more of ‘gemachte’ than observe that the author is vague and cryptic, and he also appears to be highly agitated.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2009-07-22 07:01:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
‘der (tapfer beküßt) Gemachte’?
Could one say that the author tried to personify his scruples (‘Hemmung’)? He wants to explain that his reluctance to re-enter that world is an expression of his ‘Hemmung’ and, perhaps, a ‘Versagen’. Or, his reluctance (‘scheue’) to return to this world is due to his scruples or inhibitions (‘Hemmung’) – but that looks like a tautology. I think I’m explaining this very badly…. Maybe someone else can jump in….
My google search for ‘der Gemachte’ returns a poem by Rudolf Lavant (1844-1915) - ‘Der Gemachte Mann’, which is from a collection of his poetry that was published in 1965 (3rd edition). No idea if that is at all relevant (or, indeed, how well known the poet/poem is/was), but its speaker is someone who has retreated from public life, who sounds rather bitter and cynical, and who questions the powers that be:
http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Der_gemachte_Mann
Note from asker:
| Annett, I double-checked the definite article, and it is indeed "der." But the handwriting leaves questionable whether "gemachte" might be capitalized. I now believe it is, and perhaps this changes everything. I will make that correction above. Thanks for calling it to my attention! |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks for your generous help!"
21 hrs
.
... emboldened by my repeated kisses goodbye, this is the last distancing of my reservations ...
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Note added at 22 hrs (2009-07-22 19:25:27 GMT)
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I was spun into the Goethe world for a long time. And when I avoid even the specialized nature of this world, this may have to do with the fact that my extraction from it was emboldened by the many goodbye kisses I had to wave during that last distancing from my reservations and my "failures" - even though the others don't provide any protection (lit. aren't any guardians either).
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Note added at 1 day43 mins (2009-07-22 21:48:46 GMT)
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anyway, that's a very literal rendition; something that vaguely comes close to the literal. you would have to rewrite that into a less schmalzig English.
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Note added at 1 day4 hrs (2009-07-23 02:02:54 GMT)
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@ Asker - I would have to see the preceding discussion, but I assume that he's talking about the other greats: Schiller, Hölderlin, Novalis - eben die sogennanten Vormunde der Deutschen Sprache.
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Note added at 22 hrs (2009-07-22 19:25:27 GMT)
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I was spun into the Goethe world for a long time. And when I avoid even the specialized nature of this world, this may have to do with the fact that my extraction from it was emboldened by the many goodbye kisses I had to wave during that last distancing from my reservations and my "failures" - even though the others don't provide any protection (lit. aren't any guardians either).
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Note added at 1 day43 mins (2009-07-22 21:48:46 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
anyway, that's a very literal rendition; something that vaguely comes close to the literal. you would have to rewrite that into a less schmalzig English.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day4 hrs (2009-07-23 02:02:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
@ Asker - I would have to see the preceding discussion, but I assume that he's talking about the other greats: Schiller, Hölderlin, Novalis - eben die sogennanten Vormunde der Deutschen Sprache.
Note from asker:
| Who/what do you think "Die Anderen" refers to? |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Annett Kottek (X)
: Hi Peter, I don't understand your association of 'Vormunde' with the German literary greats. Also, would you have a reference for the so-called 'Vormunde der Deutschen Sprache'? I’ve never come across this phrase.
13 hrs
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meine tapfer beküßte Redewendung ist irgendwo in einem Gymnasialtext verschollen; oder war es gar einer meiner Vormunde, ein gewisser Deutsch Lehrer?
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Discussion
(Also, I’m very ashamed to admit that I know very little of Thomas Mann, having only read two of his works.)
There is also "das" Ferne (that which is far away/removed) but doesn't make much sense here unless the "der" in der tapfer ....ist really a "das" but you already ruled that out.
"ferne meiner Hemmung" (lower case) is "far from my" . Just a few thoughts.