Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
stilistische Bergung
English translation:
stylistic containment (as in Hemmingway\'s prose style)
Added to glossary by
Stephen Old
Jan 13, 2019 16:28
5 yrs ago
German term
stilistische Bergung
German to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Poetry
This is partof a long sentence about Hemingway;s writing sytle: ....der außerordentliche Symbolreichtum, der den Kurzroman nicht nur zum subjektiven Spiegel eines um "stilistische Bergung" bemühten Autors macht. The only translations for Bergung I know are words like "retrieval" or "recovery." ~What does it mean here?
Proposed translations
(English)
3 +3 | stylistic containment | Helen Shiner |
5 | stylistic retention | Cillie Swart |
3 | delving deep into his (original) style | David Hollywood |
Proposed translations
+3
1 hr
Selected
stylistic containment
This is just a suggestion, since we can't see the whole sentence or wider context. See my discussion box entries.
I think it might be about his paring down of style by 'submerging' meaning, emotional/stylistic flourishes, symbolism, etc. A form of minimalism, but without stripping his work of meaning.
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Note added at 1 hr (2019-01-13 18:25:55 GMT)
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But it could be the opposite. It might be about 'mining' symbolism, i.e. trawling symbolism for something. Though I don't think this sits well with Hemingway as an author in general. As I've said before, we would need to see the whole sentence.
I think it might be about his paring down of style by 'submerging' meaning, emotional/stylistic flourishes, symbolism, etc. A form of minimalism, but without stripping his work of meaning.
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Note added at 1 hr (2019-01-13 18:25:55 GMT)
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But it could be the opposite. It might be about 'mining' symbolism, i.e. trawling symbolism for something. Though I don't think this sits well with Hemingway as an author in general. As I've said before, we would need to see the whole sentence.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Wolfram Weinberg, PhD
1 hr
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Thank you, Wolfram
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agree |
philgoddard
: Good idea. I agree that this is not easy without the full context, but I certainly wouldn't describe Hemingway as a symbolist.
17 hrs
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Thanks, Phil - neither would I! Doesn’t mean that his work didn’t contain symbolic force. They are entirely different things.
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agree |
Anne Schulz
: I tend to agree with your second option (see discussion entry), and particularly like the word "mining" you used.
21 hrs
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Thanks, Anne. He’s either submerging meaning (which he did as an author), or he’s allowing it somehow to become evident. I was led in part by beherbergen (re museum holdings), though that may not be related.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks a lot for this suggestion, Helen. I have used this word and added a brief explanation in line with the contents of the discussion entries."
1 hr
delving deep into his (original) style
might work
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Note added at 1 hr (2019-01-13 17:39:24 GMT)
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in the sense of "going back and recovering" as could be meant by "bergen" meaning "recover" or "save" ... thinking of "bergen" as in "bringing miners back to the surface", so figuratively we could stretch to "bringing back to the surface" or "recovering"... bouncing ideas around might help you work this into your overall context....
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Note added at 1 hr (2019-01-13 17:41:53 GMT)
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would have to be something like "recovering his old/former style"
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Note added at 1 hr (2019-01-13 17:45:04 GMT)
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and as Helen rightly points out, it will depend on your wider context
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Note added at 1 hr (2019-01-13 17:39:24 GMT)
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in the sense of "going back and recovering" as could be meant by "bergen" meaning "recover" or "save" ... thinking of "bergen" as in "bringing miners back to the surface", so figuratively we could stretch to "bringing back to the surface" or "recovering"... bouncing ideas around might help you work this into your overall context....
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Note added at 1 hr (2019-01-13 17:41:53 GMT)
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would have to be something like "recovering his old/former style"
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Note added at 1 hr (2019-01-13 17:45:04 GMT)
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and as Helen rightly points out, it will depend on your wider context
15 hrs
stylistic retention
Hemingway's approach to short novels is contrasted here with that of many other writers. Many authors' exaggerated obsession with maintaining ther style results in writing that is simply a subjective reflection of their personal experience.
Hemingway, however, is being selfless. He offers the reader a more objective framework within which to make up their own minds and reflect on their own subjective experience.
And he achieves this through his rich use of symbols.
Hemingway, however, is being selfless. He offers the reader a more objective framework within which to make up their own minds and reflect on their own subjective experience.
And he achieves this through his rich use of symbols.
Discussion
In any case, RE your second paragraph: I might agree with Schätze bergen, but not unlike salvaging, this is virtually the opposite of containment.
Best
Cf Duden:
"das Bergen (1); Rettung, Sicherung"
https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Bergung
Meaning 1 (verb)
"retten, in Sicherheit bringen"
https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/bergen
"Contain" is no. 3:
"(gehoben) enthalten, in sich tragen"
However, Bergung cannot(!) be used in this sense. It's not possible and, no, it wouldn't be understood either. You do have some verb-noun differences like this in English as well.
Also, someone has yet to mention one of the most common translations for Bergung: salvage operation.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergung_(Seefahrt)
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/salvage operation
Considering that the reviewer uses "bemüht" (trying to), maybe he really is attempting something like the above: "Aldridge believed that Hemingway managed to save the novels by salvaging the characters' values and transcribing them 'into a kind of moral network that linked them together in a unified pattern of meaning'."
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ernest-m-hemingway
Best wishes
If this is about the novellaThe Old Man and the Sea, “Bergung” might be a reference to/play on the challenging “Bergung” of the giant marlin.