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German to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Mining & Minerals / Gems / Competition for gemstone and jewellery design
German term or phrase:Silvias Seele (Please read the context)
I admit it immediately: I am only marginally involved, but the question intrigues me. Every year, there is a competion among designers of jewellery and precious objects (in Germany). At the award ceremony, the creations are exhibited and the organisers provide a leaflet (in German and English) which provides some information about the objects (material) and the decision of the jury. The information about the piece of jewellery/precious object is provided by the artists. This year, one young lady (her name is Silvia) wrote: Ring und Anhängerschmuck aus Silber, Bergkristall, blauem Chalcedon, Cacholong, Ölfarbe und SILVIAS SEELE. In English, this was turned into "Silvee's soul". When asked by the organisers, she explained that this expression was meant to indicate her own, personal input. After some "soul searching", the organisers dropped this last term. The young lady has my sympathy (but I would not have chosen the word Seele/soul), and I am wondering how to put her idea into English: Silvia's ingenuity? Silvia's creativity? Would "inspiration" or "imagination" work? "Craftsmanship" seems a bit too technical to me. Am I wrong by rejecting the word "soul" in this context? I am looking forward to all suggestions.
To my rational mind, "quintessence" is highly appealing, but I guess your later suggestion (discussion entry: heart and soul) might come closer to the idea of the young lady who tried to express her personal input. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
and the lively discussion. I'll produce a list to be forwarded to the artist who tried to express her own personal input in addition to the material used. I'll also provide the link to this website (I don't know how well the artist understands English.)
to turn a discussion entry into an answer - please do so. If anyone would like to agree (or not) with an answer already provided - please do so. As you all know, I am not allowed to split points and I want to be reasonably fair when picking the "winner". I hope to get round to this tomorrow.
I suppose I should clarify that I don't think any "voodoo stuff" was being done on the jewelry. If you want to watch a video meant to be funny, here's "Sh*t New Age People Say": https://youtu.be/fhsxz-qP8b4
is entirely up to the artists. A few more examples: Edelsteinobjekt aus Silbercalcit, Bergkristall, gelb-, grün-, blau- und rotgefärbtem Achat, Karneol, Amethyst und Perlmut Edelsteinobjekt aus Silber mit Amethyst, Citrin, Peridot sowie synthetischem rotem Spinell und synthetischem Blautopas I have been doing the editing of similar texts for several years now and I have the impression that the competition offers people the chance to experiment, be more creative than in their bread-and-butter work. I also get the impression that they select material which is not too expensive - rock crystal seems to be a favourite.
I'm pretty sure that the piece is just a very nice creation that has been "blessed" by the crafter... The maker could simply be an eccentric person with an affinity for quartz. Might want to read: http://seelen-werk.net/bergkristall/ I'm sure that you will find a way to sensibly respect her word choice :)
for your comments and contributions so far - I have already learned a lot. Since I do not know the young lady, I cannot tell whether she/her creation has anything to do with New Age. At the moment, I can't even provide a link to photos of her work (that might be possible after the award ceremony next week); I find what I've seen attractive as pieces of jewellery without thinking of New Age or anything like it. I confess that my ideas regarding a translation of "Seele" were probably too rational and a more emotional approach is better. I'll leave this question open for a bit longer to see whether a favourite solution crops up.
1) Thanks, Lancashireman. From Silvia's choice of materials and words, it seems she is rather New Age :) 2) I think it helps to think of Seele here as spirit. Heart is too warm and far from Brigitte's insights. 3) I prefer the Saxon genitive here.
1) I like herbalchemist's version with charged. 2) Has anyone mentioned vitality yet? 3) 'Silvia's' or 'of Silvia'? Personally, I think the Saxon genitive sounds wrong here.
Perhaps something like created/crafted with heart and soul [by Sylvia] from ... Designers often talk about pouring their very heart and soul into their creations, e.g. I had created some amazing designs that had every bit of my heart and soul poured into them but no way of expressing that on my website. It might cost a little more than a mass produced item but you are getting something money can’t buy, a little piece of our heart and soul and a whole lot of love. https://vanessamailejewellery.co.uk/blogs/news
The organisers (not the judges) decided to drop the comment about the soul for their leaflet because all the other artists only mentioned material (metal, gems, etc.) and they considered it odd to have just one entry with a different message. I was not involved, I am only the proof-reader of the text. Since I feel that I understand what the young woman wanted to express, I want to send a message to her via the organisers to make a suggestion how to phrase her statement in English (there are international competitions, and she might want to compete in one of them). Given the context, I would not have chosen the word "Seele" in German, nor the word "soul" in English, but I want to find out what others think about this - therefore my question. I'm collecting suggestions and I'll pass them all on - I won't suppress anything I might dislike - I'm just trying to be helpful.
I don't understand why you/the judges have rejected "soul". If she chose that word, you should respect it rather than telling her what she should have written.
Explanation: I don't think soul is inappropriate, but would use a prepositional phrase, the , to underscore the poetic intent. It really depends on how Silvia sees this herself.
Ramey Rieger (X) Germany Local time: 08:52 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
peer agreement (net): +3