Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
está atravesada por
English translation:
is a litany of
Added to glossary by
Thomas Walker
Dec 11, 2016 23:00
7 yrs ago
14 viewers *
Spanish term
United States
está atravesada por
Spanish to English
Other
Government / Politics
Current affairs
This is from an opinion piece in a Colombian newspaper. The piece is about the standoff at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, in the U.S.; the piece is titled "La batalla de Standing Rock." Here's the paragraph in which the phrase occurs:
"Se trata de la batalla de una tribu de los sioux contra el tramo del oleoducto Dakota Access que pasaría por debajo del río Misuri, su única fuente de agua (y la de millones de estadounidenses) y afectaría sus tierras ancestrales. Como la de tantas otras comunidades nativas, esta historia ***está atravesada por*** el exterminio, la represión y la expulsión sistemática, en buena medida debido al mito de terra nullius, utilizado por los colonizadores de ayer y hoy para aducir que el territorio es “vacío” y sujeto de ocupación “legítima” por el hombre blanco, debido a que los indígenas no lo “poseen” ni lo “producen” en el sentido capitalista de la propiedad privada."
I understand the basic meaning of the phrase, but here it is used in more of a metaphoric sense, and I'm having a tough time coming up with a satisfactory English equivalent. Maybe "overwritten by"?
Any help greatly appreciated.
"Se trata de la batalla de una tribu de los sioux contra el tramo del oleoducto Dakota Access que pasaría por debajo del río Misuri, su única fuente de agua (y la de millones de estadounidenses) y afectaría sus tierras ancestrales. Como la de tantas otras comunidades nativas, esta historia ***está atravesada por*** el exterminio, la represión y la expulsión sistemática, en buena medida debido al mito de terra nullius, utilizado por los colonizadores de ayer y hoy para aducir que el territorio es “vacío” y sujeto de ocupación “legítima” por el hombre blanco, debido a que los indígenas no lo “poseen” ni lo “producen” en el sentido capitalista de la propiedad privada."
I understand the basic meaning of the phrase, but here it is used in more of a metaphoric sense, and I'm having a tough time coming up with a satisfactory English equivalent. Maybe "overwritten by"?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+5
3 hrs
Muriel Vasconcellos
United States
United States
Native in English
Specializes in field
United States
Each translation a gem!
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
Works in: Spanish to English, Portuguese to English
Related KudoZ points
:
468
Selected
is a litany of
Definition:
Is there a word (or phrase) that describe a series of mishaps ...
english.stackexchange.com/.../is-there-a-word-or-phrase-that-describe-a-...
Nov 13, 2014 - One common formulation is "a litany of troubles [or problems]," where litany has the sense of "a sizable series or set." The entry for litany in Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003) shows an interesting line of meanings:
litany n (13c) 1 : a prayer consisting of a series of invocations and supplications by the leader with alternate responses by the congregation 2 a : a resonant or repetitive chant {a litany of cheering phrases—Herman Wouk} b : a usu. lengthy recitation or enumeration {a familiar litany of complaints} c : a sizable series or set {a litany of problems}
All three of MW's nonliturgical definitions of litany have emerged within the past seventy years—definition 2a in the Seventh Collegiate (1963), definition 2b in the Ninth Collegiate (1983), and definition 2c in the Eleventh Collegiate (2003).
Examples:
Quote by Anne Rice: **“History is a litany of injustice,** no one denies...”
www.goodreads.com/.../847929-history-is-a-litany-of-injusti...
“History is a litany of injustice, no one denies it. But when has a simple solution ever been anything but evil? Only in complexity do we find answers.
**Yankees' last 10 top draft picks is a litany of disaster"** | New York Post
nypost.com/2016/.../yankees-last-10-top-draft-picks-is-a-litany-of-disaste...
www.rabbiwein.com › Bible/ TanachBible/ TanachCHUKAT. The entire book of Bamidbar is **a litany of bad behavior, poor choices and a lack of faith that dooms that generation** – a great generation that left Egypt ...
www.telegraph.co.uk › NewsJul 6, 2016 - Sir John Chilcot's report into the Iraq war is **a litany of sorrows.**
Is there a word (or phrase) that describe a series of mishaps ...
english.stackexchange.com/.../is-there-a-word-or-phrase-that-describe-a-...
Nov 13, 2014 - One common formulation is "a litany of troubles [or problems]," where litany has the sense of "a sizable series or set." The entry for litany in Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003) shows an interesting line of meanings:
litany n (13c) 1 : a prayer consisting of a series of invocations and supplications by the leader with alternate responses by the congregation 2 a : a resonant or repetitive chant {a litany of cheering phrases—Herman Wouk} b : a usu. lengthy recitation or enumeration {a familiar litany of complaints} c : a sizable series or set {a litany of problems}
All three of MW's nonliturgical definitions of litany have emerged within the past seventy years—definition 2a in the Seventh Collegiate (1963), definition 2b in the Ninth Collegiate (1983), and definition 2c in the Eleventh Collegiate (2003).
Examples:
Quote by Anne Rice: **“History is a litany of injustice,** no one denies...”
www.goodreads.com/.../847929-history-is-a-litany-of-injusti...
“History is a litany of injustice, no one denies it. But when has a simple solution ever been anything but evil? Only in complexity do we find answers.
**Yankees' last 10 top draft picks is a litany of disaster"** | New York Post
nypost.com/2016/.../yankees-last-10-top-draft-picks-is-a-litany-of-disaste...
www.rabbiwein.com › Bible/ TanachBible/ TanachCHUKAT. The entire book of Bamidbar is **a litany of bad behavior, poor choices and a lack of faith that dooms that generation** – a great generation that left Egypt ...
www.telegraph.co.uk › NewsJul 6, 2016 - Sir John Chilcot's report into the Iraq war is **a litany of sorrows.**
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks Muriel,I thought "litany" worked well in this context, & I ended up going with it in my translation.
Thanks to everybody who weighed in - great discussion, really helped me get unstuck on this."
11 mins
AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
Works in field
United Kingdom
Sensible solutions
Native in: English (Variant: Wessexois)
Works in: French to English, English, English to French
Related KudoZ points
:
123
characterized by
suggestion
I don't think anything more metaphorical than that is needed
I don't think anything more metaphorical than that is needed
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Carol Gullidge
: one of several answers that lack the desirable (imo!) negative connotations
13 hrs
|
32 mins
Robert Carter
Mexico
Mexico
Native in English
Works in field
Mexico
Translating full-time since 1998
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: Spanish to English
Related KudoZ points
:
100
is shaped / informed / permeated by
A few more choices.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Carol Gullidge
: one of several answers that lack the desirable (imo!) negative connotations
13 hrs
|
+6
34 mins
is shot through with / is a catalogue of
Two more ideas, both pretty common set phrases in this context. I think either would work well here. The first is closer to the original, because the metaphor "atravesada" is that extermination, repression and systematic run right through this story in the way a vein runs through a rock, for example.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 44 mins (2016-12-11 23:45:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
An example or two:
"The story is shot through with the tensions and bloody violence between Sri Lanka's Buddhist Sinhalese majority and its Hindu Tamil minority."
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-688-14595-8
"Like This Blinding Absence of Light, this story is a catalogue of the horrors that despots inflicted on men who simply had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
(This refers to concentration camps)
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/joe/tichin.pdf
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 44 mins (2016-12-11 23:45:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
An example or two:
"The story is shot through with the tensions and bloody violence between Sri Lanka's Buddhist Sinhalese majority and its Hindu Tamil minority."
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-688-14595-8
"Like This Blinding Absence of Light, this story is a catalogue of the horrors that despots inflicted on men who simply had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
(This refers to concentration camps)
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/joe/tichin.pdf
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Muriel Vasconcellos
: I prefer 'catalogue of'
2 hrs
|
|
Thanks, Muriel. On balance, I think I do too. The first one occurred to me as being very close to "atravesada" but still idiomatic.
|
|
| agree |
David Ronder
8 hrs
|
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Thanks, David
|
|
| agree |
neilmac
9 hrs
|
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Cheers, Neil :)
|
|
| agree |
franglish
: with Muriel
9 hrs
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Thanks, franglish :)
|
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| agree |
Carol Gullidge
: with either!
11 hrs
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Thanks, Carol!
|
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| agree |
philgoddard
: I agree with Muriel's and Marie's answers, but you were first.
16 hrs
|
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Thanks, Phil! I think any of them would do, and it's a question of which one Tom likes most.
|
-3
1 hr
Jennifer Levey
Chile
Chile
Native in English
Chile
Human-scale Globalization
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, English to Spanish, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
78
imbibed with
Think about it...
... and if all else fails:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/imbibe
1.1 Absorb or assimilate (ideas or knowledge):
‘if one does not imbibe the culture one cannot succeed’
Metaphorically:
... esta historia ***está atravesada por*** el exterminio, la represión ...
-->
"... this (whole) episode was soaked in extermination, repression ...."
... and if all else fails:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/imbibe
1.1 Absorb or assimilate (ideas or knowledge):
‘if one does not imbibe the culture one cannot succeed’
Metaphorically:
... esta historia ***está atravesada por*** el exterminio, la represión ...
-->
"... this (whole) episode was soaked in extermination, repression ...."
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Muriel Vasconcellos
: Maybe you were thinking of 'embued'? The word 'imbibe' is misued in your answer. In your first example, the subject of 'imbibe' was a person, who is taking in the culture. Here 'history' is being acted upon.
1 hr
|
| disagree |
Andrew Bramhall
: with Muriel
7 hrs
|
| disagree |
Carol Gullidge
: apart from being wrong, this is one of several answers that lack the desirable (imo!) negative connotations
12 hrs
|
8 hrs
David Ronder
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
Specializes in field
United Kingdom
Linguistic flair and an eye for detail
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
44
is one of
i.e. this history is one of extermination, repression and systematic expulsion...
It may seem that this is avoiding the issue to some extent, but I believe it conveys the sense accurately and neatly.
It may seem that this is avoiding the issue to some extent, but I believe it conveys the sense accurately and neatly.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Carol Gullidge
: one of several answers that lack the desirable (imo!) negative connotations//one of the meanings of atravesar is "sufrir" (as in "atravesar momentos dificiles"), which seems to be the most appropriate sense in this context.
5 hrs
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But Carol, there is nothing inherently negative about 'atravesada por': the negativity comes from the things listed.//But that doesn't match the passive use of the verb here. It's clearly not being used in that sense.
|
+6
9 hrs
has been fraught with
Another possibility. Although "fraught" isn't a translation of "atravesado" it conveys a similar meaning in this context.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Andrew Bramhall
: Neat
26 mins
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Thanks, Oliver
|
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| agree |
neilmac
: Nice option - and extra points for the present perfect :)
42 mins
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Thanks, Neil
|
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| agree |
Muriel Vasconcellos
52 mins
|
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Thanks, Muriel
|
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| agree |
Carol Gullidge
: ...trying to figure out if history can be "fraught", but decided it can. In which case, in its sense of "filled with" + something unpleasant, it seems very apt!
3 hrs
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Thanks, Carol
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| agree |
Marcelo González
11 hrs
|
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Thanks, Marcelo
|
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| agree |
Catalina Connon
: Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for.
393 days
|
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Thanks, Catalina, I'm glad it came in handy!
|
15 hrs
Wendy Streitparth
Germany
Germany
Native in English
Works in field
Germany
45 years experience
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: German to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
17
undermined/compromised by
Other alternatives
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