národní směna

English translation: national day of unpaid work

18:08 Mar 8, 2011

Czech to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.

Czech term or phrase: národní směna

Dear colleagues,

I have encountered a term in the source text, which most of us Czechs are very familiar with but for which I struggle finding a good translation. It is the so-called "národní směna" that was a form of a "voluntary" work run by the Communists during their rule in Czechoslovakia. While supposedly voluntary in nature, participation was, of course, compulsory. I believe that translation by paraphrase would be adequate here, although I would still like to include "literal" translation of the original term. I wanted to make sure that an already established translation does not exist (my research hasn´t revealed any).

I would welcome any suggestions on what you think would constitute an appropriate translation (and translation strategy) for the target culture audience (this would be an audience of mixed cultural origin, scholars speaking English but not necessarily from the UK).

Thank you very much for your help.

With best wishes,

Myska

myska KudoZ activity Questions: 42 (5 open) Answers: 0
Local time: 20:15

English translation:national day of unpaid work

Explanation:
This English term 'day of unpaid work' is used to explain the Soviet institution
of the subbotnik, a day of unpaid work on a Saturday.
This is of course the origin of 'národní směna'
I offer this term as a way of trying to describe the meaning of the original term, which is not too long , unwieldy or awkward and/or unidiomatic in English. I look forward to comments.

Selected response from:

Barry Appleby
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:15

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +2

national day of unpaid work

Barry Appleby

Action Z

Uwe Dulz

2 +1

national shift

Tomas Mosler, DipTrans IoLET MCIL MITI

uncompensated "community work days" after the Soviet model

TechLawDC

Soviet tradition of community work days

IRA100

nationwide "voluntary" work (of soviet type)

jankaisler

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

5 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

national shift

Explanation:
And then explain the meaning.

Tomas Mosler, DipTrans IoLET MCIL MITI
Czech Republic
Local time: 21:15
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Czech

Notes to answerer

Asker: Děkuji. Vystihl jste metodu překladu, kterou jsem chtěla původně použít.

26 mins confidence:

Soviet tradition of community work days

Explanation:
..

IRA100
Local time: 21:15
Native speaker of:

Polish,

Russian

36 mins confidence:

nationwide "voluntary" work (of soviet type)

Explanation:
x

jankaisler
Local time: 21:15
Works in field
Native speaker of: Czech

1 hr confidence:

Action Z

Explanation:
From the description on the wikipedia page this may be the closest thing. Also, as a translation strategy was requested, this may be of particular help.
However, I am afraid that there will not be a direct or similar translation in English, as due to the social system a word or term like that was never required ;-)
The only thing remaining is a transcription, and this article should be of help finding one.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Z

Uwe Dulz
Germany
Local time: 21:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you, Uwe. This is a very interesting piece of information. I didn't know that this type of 'voluntary' work was called 'action Z'. I don't quite remember them, I was too little. I have just looked at the link provided and found the double-meaning of the letter 'Z' most amusing (as supposedly standing for 'zvelebování' on the one hand, and more appropriately for 'zdarma' on the other hand). I will have to think about what would constitute the 'most' appropriate strategy in my translation scenario but whether I choose to include this information or not, I would like to thank you for enriching my own knowledge.

2 hrs confidence:

uncompensated "community work days" after the Soviet model

Explanation:
("Soviet" is universally understood to refer to the USSR.)

TechLawDC
United States
Local time: 15:15
Native speaker of:

English

3 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

national day of unpaid work

Barry Appleby
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

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English translation: national day of unpaid work

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