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lazo de agua
ofertas pilotos
This question was closed without grading. Reason: Other
Dec 13, 2014 17:06
9 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Spanish term

Se acabó la épica

Spanish to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Literature
Hola, estoy traduciendo un documental sobre la vida de un escritor. El título es "se acabó la épica" y mi duda obedece a que encontré diversas entradas en google con épica traducido com "epic" pero también me parece que "epics" es correcto.
La pregunta puntual es: la palabra "Épica" como sustantivo, se traduce como epics o como epic?
Muchas gracias
Proposed translations (English)
3 +5 the saga is over
4 my time is up/it's all over/my day is done
3 That's how the story ends!
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Phoenix III

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Discussion

Mercedes Rizzuti (asker) Dec 13, 2014:
Gracias, Phil. A medida que avanzo en el film (que aún no pude ver, solo traducía la sinopsis, y por eso la necesidad de el título), el documental consta de distintas personas hablando de este escritor fallecido. La frase que Sanchez usaba: "se me acabó la épica", ahora veo que se refería a SU épica personal. Él sostenía que cuando en su vida no había dramatismo, cuando se acababa su épica personal, él no podía escribir. Este es el contexto, de modo que creo que sí puede aplicarse un THE EPIC IS OVER, ya que en este caso es una épica en particular de lo que se trata.
philgoddard Dec 13, 2014:
Translated film titles often (quite rightly) end up bearing no resemblance to the original. I don't think "The epic is over" sounds very inspiring, but Charles' idea of "No more heroes" may be perfect, depending on exactly what the film is about.
Charles Davis Dec 13, 2014:
@Cecilia Yes, you did: I should have said so!
Cecilia Gowar Dec 13, 2014:
I believe that is the meaning, as I said below.
Charles Davis Dec 13, 2014:
@Mercedes Well, as I say, "the epic is over" would be taken to mean "this particular epic (story) is over", but I don't think it means that; I think it means that "epic is over": epic, or perhaps the heroic, is a thing of the past; there is nothing epic about life any more.
Mercedes Rizzuti (asker) Dec 13, 2014:
I agree with you, Charles. I might choose "The epic is over"...if somebody thinks it's wrong, please let me know. You're all being really helpful.
Charles Davis Dec 13, 2014:
And to move from Golpes Bajos to the Stranglers a few years earlier, maybe it means something like "No More Heroes".
Charles Davis Dec 13, 2014:
It reminds me of a Spanish song title from the eighties that is often quoted: "Malos tiempos para la lírica." This is a bit like saying "Malos tiempos para la épica".
Charles Davis Dec 13, 2014:
That being so, I think it's exceedingly unlikely that when Sánchez said "se me acabó la épica" he was referring to an epic, in the sense of an epic story: he didn't, for example, mean "the epic of my life is over". Nor, by analogy, does "se acabó la épica" mean that. He meant, and it means, "epicness", so to speak: the epic quality of life or literature or both. "No more epic", as you might say.
Charles Davis Dec 13, 2014:
Épica As a noun, "épica" means epic poetry, as a genre, and by extension the set of works that make up that genre, which is how it can come to mean epics, plural. An individual work belonging to that genre (like the Iliad, for example) is called an "epopeya": in English, an epic or an epic poem.

So "se acabó la épica" literally means that epic poetry is finished. You might even express it as "the death of epic" (no article), by analogy with the death of tragedy. Of course, it doesn't necessarily refer only to literary epic poetry; it might refer to the epic quality of life, experiences or events of an epic nature, for example.
Mercedes Rizzuti (asker) Dec 13, 2014:
Gracias. Responderé lo que sé. Es la vida de un escritor (Néstor Sánchez). Él solía decir "se me acabó la épica", pero la directora del documental eligió cambiar la frase por "se acabó la épica" (impersonal). Es cierto lo que Phil dice, mi confusión obedece a que "epic" es sustantivo y adjetivo a la vez. Pero en el caso de el título "Se acabó la épica" es un sustantivo. El sentido de la frase sería que ya no tiene más épica (género literario) a la cual acudir para escribir.
Cecilia Gowar Dec 13, 2014:
La rae lo da como adjetivo pero muchas veces se usa para generalizar, en el sentido de lo heroico (sublime, abnegado). Como te dijeron, falta contexto. No se sabe si la épica se acabó porque el escritor desapareció o porque fue desplazada por lo prosaico.
philgoddard Dec 13, 2014:
This sounds more like a question of grammar than of translation. The singular is epic, the plural is epics. Maybe you're confused because epic is both a noun and an adjective.
David Hollywood Dec 13, 2014:
I agree with Carol that more context would be very useful in determining how to go about this
Carol Gullidge Dec 13, 2014:
Context? Whose story? What is the"epica" about. For example, If it is the life story of the writer, I'd be tempted to use something like "and so the story ended" or " ... And this was the end of an era" but it all depends on the CONTEXT!

Proposed translations

+5
1 hr

the saga is over

It all obviously depends on the context but I would say 'epic' is used more as an adjective in English and might sound awkward as a noun in the plural. Saga is a nice alternative.
Peer comment(s):
agree Branka Ramadanovic
15 mins
agree Jaime Blank
2 hrs
agree Rosario Meriles
2 hrs
agree Gisela Bocco
6 hrs
agree Phoenix III : Absolutely!
1 day 4 hrs
Something went wrong...
6 hrs

my time is up/it's all over/my day is done

having seen the specific context

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Note added at 6 hrs (2014-12-13 23:22:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or: my time is past/time has passed over me

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2014-12-13 23:23:56 GMT)
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many ways to render this ... and will boil down to feel
Something went wrong...
1 day 23 hrs

That's how the story ends!

I believe that when translating a story , a novel , etc one cannot translate mot-a-mot. my humble opinion
Something went wrong...
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