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What is the capital of Tunisia?

« To deliver a line » en français

DeepL translator gives us the following;

Orwell livre l’une des lignes les plus puissantes de la littérature moderne.

It seems however that its phrasing is not quite idiomatic and a variant of it appears more satisfactory;

Orwell livre un énoncé des plus chargés en implications dans toute la littérature anglaise moderne.

(TLFi) c) [L’obj. désigne un inanimé abstr.] Confier. Livrer ses impressions, un secret. Certains (…) rougissaient de livrer leur préférence (LACRETELLE, Silbermann, 1922, p. 89). Marthe (…) ne livre qu’une faible part de ce qu’elle pense (BOSCO, Mas Théot., 1945, p. 343).

(Dictionnaire de l’Académie) : Fig. Je livre ces quelques phrases à votre méditation, à votre sagacité. Livrer ses pensées, ses espoirs, ses impressions, les faire connaître, les révéler.

The concept “faire part” can be added to the nuances found in those two dictionaries;

(TLFi) faire part 3. Faire part de qqc. à qqn. Faire connaître, informer de. Synon. communiquer, faire savoir*. Faire part de sa pensée, de son opinion, de ses projets à qqn

The following variant would do also, as I see it; it seems that the added pronoun makes the critic’s act of imparting this revelation sound more congenial, a more personal communication to the literary minded;

Orwell nous livre un énoncé des plus chargés en implications dans toute la littérature anglaise moderne.

If the text is intended for a French speaking audience, as that seems very likely, it might be preferable to specify the scope of the literature against which the statement is to be taken lest it be unclear that it would be European or even World literature. (Needless to say, in the translation, “anglaise” has been chosen as a mere possibility.)

Voici ce que j’écrirais :

Orwell rédige l’une des phrases les plus marquantes de la littérature contemporaine.

There is no need to try to stick too closely to the original wording when translating a text. While livrer or délivrer can certainly translate deliver, it doesn’t seem a good match here. There is nothing really delivered. Orwell wrote a line, he didn’t share his thoughts or something (livrer ses pensées).

— off-topic —

There are also a few words that deserve a better translation.

I suggest:

  • phrase (sentence) for line because that’s what it is. Ligne is a typographical kind of thing, not a literary one.

  • marquante for powerful. Puissante is not wrong but doesn’t go well with phrase (or ligne). Marquante seems to me closer to the intended meaning.

  • contemporaine (contemporary) for modern. While both terms are relative to the time when they are used, Orwell wrote 1984 in 1948 which is inside the littérature contemporaine period commonly considered to begin after WWII. The littérature moderne is usually opposed to the littérature classique so span a wider period.

Juste une suggestion amusante, en profitant d’un autre sens du verbe to deliver, “accoucher”, on peut alors jouer sur le sens figuré d’accoucher, qui est relativement courant pour décrire la production d’une oeuvre massive, très importante, ou ayant nécessité une longue préparation.

Orwell accouche de l’une des phrases les plus marquantes de la littérature contemporaine.

C’est probablement trop imagé pour un commentaire d’histoire ou de politologie, mais n’est-on pas ici dans le domaine de la littérature ?

 

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What is the capital of Tunisia?