実感主義

English translation: yielding to intuition

03:13 Nov 30, 2011
Japanese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Photography/Imaging (& Graphic Arts) / art criticism essay
Japanese term or phrase: 実感主義
In an essay about Japanese photography of the 1950s, the sentence reads
ある意味では、実感主義といえるかもしれないようなものが発想の底を流れているように思えてならない。
A vague sentence to be sure, but it's the 実感主義 part that I'm concerned about. It ought to be some kind of "-ism", I suppose...
Thank you for any insights!
Colin Smith
Local time: 19:09
English translation:yielding to intuition
Explanation:
I can't think of an English "-ism" that matches well with 実感主義. In general, it's used to refer to yielding to your visceral emotions or your "gut feelings," especially when making a judgment (often with the negative nuance that you've put aside your critical/logical faculties).

If you really wanted to go for an ism, "empiricism," i.e. 経験主義 is the closest I can think of, but that doesn't really capture the nuance or tone of the original term, and I don't think it fits well in the context here.

Hope that helps!

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Note added at 26 mins (2011-11-30 03:40:02 GMT)
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While searching for examples, I found this Twitter exchange between economist/curmudgeon Ikeda Nobuo and someone concerning the Fukushima situation that illustrates the definition I gave pretty well:

http://hiwihhi.com/ikedanob/status/70424092452466688
Selected response from:

53507 (X)
Japan
Local time: 01:09
Grading comment
I ended up going with "experientialism". Still not sure if this is the best possible translation! Thanks very much for your suggestions.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3yielding to intuition
53507 (X)
3sensationism
Y. K.
3feeling-first policy
Benshin
3Presence effect/participation effect
MariyaN (X)
3Principle of realism
pikachupichu


  

Answers


23 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
yielding to intuition


Explanation:
I can't think of an English "-ism" that matches well with 実感主義. In general, it's used to refer to yielding to your visceral emotions or your "gut feelings," especially when making a judgment (often with the negative nuance that you've put aside your critical/logical faculties).

If you really wanted to go for an ism, "empiricism," i.e. 経験主義 is the closest I can think of, but that doesn't really capture the nuance or tone of the original term, and I don't think it fits well in the context here.

Hope that helps!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 26 mins (2011-11-30 03:40:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

While searching for examples, I found this Twitter exchange between economist/curmudgeon Ikeda Nobuo and someone concerning the Fukushima situation that illustrates the definition I gave pretty well:

http://hiwihhi.com/ikedanob/status/70424092452466688

53507 (X)
Japan
Local time: 01:09
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 3
Grading comment
I ended up going with "experientialism". Still not sure if this is the best possible translation! Thanks very much for your suggestions.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you very much, Gregory!

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39 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
sensationism


Explanation:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sensationism

Y. K.
Local time: 03:09
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you very much, dunk!

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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
feeling-first policy


Explanation:
"...主義" is sometimes translated as "...-first policy." In this case, I suppose "feeling-first policy" or something like that might be one of the choices.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2011-11-30 05:55:38 GMT)
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I think "centered" or "oriented" can be used instead of "first" and "principle" instead of "policy" according to the context.

Benshin
Japan
Local time: 01:09
Native speaker of: Japanese
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you very much, Benshin!

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14 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Presence effect/participation effect


Explanation:
It seems to me it could possibly mean something like this, because 実感 can be translated as "real feeling", "feeling of reality", ot "to experience something personally".

MariyaN (X)
United States
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian, Native in UkrainianUkrainian
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21 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Principle of realism


Explanation:
I would translate as the principle of feeling realism, the principle of realism, the principle of reality, and so on.

Even in Japanese, we do not see 実感主義 so often. I would go back to the client for clarification if he/she means realism (現実主義), and/or reality (現実).

pikachupichu
Japan
Local time: 01:09
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in JapaneseJapanese
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you very much, pikachupichu!

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