3 ms·

"In Search of Lost Time" feels like such a rubbish translation, goddamnit. Where'd the "re" go? C'mon man. And surely "temps perdu" has a connotation of this be

by tom_ 4y ago

"In Search of Lost Time" feels like such a rubbish translation, goddamnit. Where'd the "re" go? C'mon man. And surely "temps perdu" has a connotation of this being some actual period of subjectively experienced time, now past, however brief - something that "lost time" absolutely fails to capture. "Lost time"? Insofar as the phrase actually makes any sense, it's the sort of thing you might see on the letter you receive when you get fired from your retail job for spending too much time on the toilet. Wikipedia says: "first translated into English as `Remembrance of Things Past'". Much better.

porknubbins 4y ago
It does sound kind of prosaic now that you point it out but I think thats why titles are so often changed in translation. The French Rechercher apparently is a stronger form of searching/seeking chercher similar to English research but without the narrow somewhat technical connotation the English has, so I’m not sure what word would be better to express searching strongly. “Lost time” falls particularly flat to my ear because it sounds like some trivial day to day time, not a lost era or lost memory. I would prefer “time long past” but I tend to err on the side of sentimentality, like the great 19th-early 20 translators, though the modern trend seems to be avoiding injecting anything not original even at the risk of sounding totally boring and ordinary.
pyuser583 4y ago
I’ve always thought of it as “Remembrance of Things Past.” Always figured it was a reference to Ecclesiastes - “there is no remembrance of things past.” Maybe I’m remembering wrong.
- cafard 4y ago
  It's from Shakespeare, Sonnet XXX. https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1041/pg1041.txt https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1041/pg1041.txt Edit: I've always supposed it was from Shakespeare. I don't know Ecclesiastes well.
  - pyuser583 4y ago
    Wow there are quite a few parallels between Sonnet XXX and Ecclesiastes.

by tom_ 4y ago

porknubbins 4y ago

It does sound kind of prosaic now that you point it out but I think thats why titles are so often changed in translation. The French Rechercher apparently is a stronger form of searching/seeking chercher similar to English research but without the narrow somewhat technical connotation the English has, so I’m not sure what word would be better to express searching strongly. “Lost time” falls particularly flat to my ear because it sounds like some trivial day to day time, not a lost era or lost memory. I would prefer “time long past” but I tend to err on the side of sentimentality, like the great 19th-early 20 translators, though the modern trend seems to be avoiding injecting anything not original even at the risk of sounding totally boring and ordinary.

pyuser583 4y ago

I’ve always thought of it as “Remembrance of Things Past.” Always figured it was a reference to Ecclesiastes - “there is no remembrance of things past.” Maybe I’m remembering wrong.

cafard 4y ago
It's from Shakespeare, Sonnet XXX. https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1041/pg1041.txt https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1041/pg1041.txt Edit: I've always supposed it was from Shakespeare. I don't know Ecclesiastes well.
- pyuser583 4y ago
  Wow there are quite a few parallels between Sonnet XXX and Ecclesiastes.