Jul 25, 2023 19:59
10 mos ago
49 viewers *
French term
déplacent d'un poil le curseur
French to English
Art/Literary
Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
Exhibition information
Here is the excerpt for context:
Et l’allusion successive à la figure allégorique du soin (le lave-linge longtemps associé à la féminité), comme à la charge mentale qui a longtemps incombée aux femmes, et de la force (la musculature masculine) a pour effet d’interroger les représentations des identités genrées. La série des vestales – c’est le titre des quatre toiles de plus petit format – poursuivent cette idée. Ironiquement données comme un éloge à Vesta, déesse antique de la maison et de la famille, elles déplacent d’un poil le curseur pour révéler de nouveaux objets déifiés.
Could anyone offer a potential translation or a paraphrase for the part in the title?
Thank you!
Et l’allusion successive à la figure allégorique du soin (le lave-linge longtemps associé à la féminité), comme à la charge mentale qui a longtemps incombée aux femmes, et de la force (la musculature masculine) a pour effet d’interroger les représentations des identités genrées. La série des vestales – c’est le titre des quatre toiles de plus petit format – poursuivent cette idée. Ironiquement données comme un éloge à Vesta, déesse antique de la maison et de la famille, elles déplacent d’un poil le curseur pour révéler de nouveaux objets déifiés.
Could anyone offer a potential translation or a paraphrase for the part in the title?
Thank you!
Proposed translations
(English)
References
| 'curseur', au figuré : |
Jennifer Levey
|
Proposed translations
2 days 14 hrs
Lisa Barrett
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
Specializes in field
United Kingdom
Fr>En Translator, Culture and Tourism
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
French term (edited):
déplacent d\'un poil le curseur
Selected
they alter our perspective
Just suggesting something non-figurative here, as I'm mindful that the text is a piece of gallery/museum interpretation, which should be as plain as poss. Interpretation panels in the UK also often include inclusive language, hence the 'our'.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks for your suggestion - I ended up going with a combination of the suggestions here, but yours was the closest to what I chose."
2 hrs
move the frame of reference a smidgen
I see curseur here not as the thingy we see on our computer screens but rather as the mobile piece on a joiner's marking gauge or - and I really am showing my age here - on a slide rule (always liked the smell of it), a reference point.
12 hrs
Shift the focus slightly
It's clearly metaphorical and goes on to say ' it reveals....
Note from asker:
| Just wanted to say thank you for your suggestion - I went with a combination of the answers here and would have shared the points if I could! |
17 hrs
Lena Johansson
Sweden
Sweden
Sweden
Pedagogik och franska
Native in: Swedish (Variants: Rikssvenska, Scanian / skånska)
Works in: French to Swedish, Swedish to French, English to Swedish, and 5 more.
they move the cursor a bit to reveal new divine items.
To move the boundaries or to push the limits.
+2
16 mins
Philippa Smith
Native in English
Works in field
29 years turning out perfect English
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English
Related KudoZ points
:
47
move the needle a fraction
I feel the "déplacer le cursuer" is used in the same way here as "move the needle", which works for this context. And you have options for "d'un poil" - I suggest "a fraction" but there are plenty more.
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Note added at 17 hrs (2023-07-26 13:35:18 GMT)
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For those not familiar with the idiom:
"Move the needle is an idiom that is several decades old.(...)
Move the needle is an idiom that means to make a change that is noticeable, to alter or modify something so that the effect of your action is measurable. Most often, move the needle is used in a positive sense, meaning to make progress toward a goal. The expression move the needle became popular in a figurative sense from the 1980s and is one of many phrases that began as business jargon. The image is of a needle on a gauge or meter moving in response to stimuli; related phrases are moves the needle, moved the needle, moving the needle."
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Note added at 17 hrs (2023-07-26 13:38:12 GMT)
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And here's an example of its use (not an esoteric art text, but a similar context of shifting societal perspectives):
"Embrace a ‘systems perspective’ to move the needle on women’s leadership"
https://www.talentmgt.com/articles/2022/06/30/embrace-a-syst...
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Note added at 17 hrs (2023-07-26 13:35:18 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
For those not familiar with the idiom:
"Move the needle is an idiom that is several decades old.(...)
Move the needle is an idiom that means to make a change that is noticeable, to alter or modify something so that the effect of your action is measurable. Most often, move the needle is used in a positive sense, meaning to make progress toward a goal. The expression move the needle became popular in a figurative sense from the 1980s and is one of many phrases that began as business jargon. The image is of a needle on a gauge or meter moving in response to stimuli; related phrases are moves the needle, moved the needle, moving the needle."
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2023-07-26 13:38:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
And here's an example of its use (not an esoteric art text, but a similar context of shifting societal perspectives):
"Embrace a ‘systems perspective’ to move the needle on women’s leadership"
https://www.talentmgt.com/articles/2022/06/30/embrace-a-syst...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Sheri P
7 mins
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Thanks!
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| neutral |
Tony M
: I can't see how you get from the very IT-associated 'cursor' to the much more homely 'needle', suggesting the old technology of vinyl records etc. I certainly can't see any connection with images?
12 mins
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Neither expression is literal! I'll add in a ref to the "move the needle" idiom for you.
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| neutral |
Jennifer Levey
: The ST employs a figurative use of 'curseur' which doesn't tally with your 'needle'.
35 mins
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The needle is also figurative, not literal.
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| agree |
SafeTex
: Hello Philipa. I prefer "nudge the needle" for a couple of reasons but I think your suggestion is fine, and I'm pretty surprised, to put it mildly, by what was said in the "neutrals".
3 hrs
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Thanks! And, Ikr? ;-)
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| disagree |
Mpoma
: Meaningless. The art context is not atypically problematic to grasp, but this simply makes no sense.
19 hrs
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Since we're not beating about the bush: rubbish. It only makes no sense to someone without a grasp of the idom.
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| agree |
Anastasia Kalantzi
4 days
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Thanks!
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Reference comments
50 mins
Jennifer Levey
Chile
Chile
Native in English
Chile
Human-scale Globalization
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, English to Spanish, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Reference:
'curseur', au figuré :
https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/curseur/21181
curseur
3. Au figuré. Ce qui sert de repère dans l'évolution d'une situation (personnelle, économique, etc.) : Repositionner le curseur de la violence à la télé.
https://www.senscritique.com/film/BAC_Nord/critique/25809662...
Tout l’enjeu est sans doute moins de nous indiquer où positionner le curseur moral et politique, que de remettre en question une vision simpliste, et surtout déconnectée de la réalité, de la lutte entre les « bons et les méchants ».
curseur
3. Au figuré. Ce qui sert de repère dans l'évolution d'une situation (personnelle, économique, etc.) : Repositionner le curseur de la violence à la télé.
https://www.senscritique.com/film/BAC_Nord/critique/25809662...
Tout l’enjeu est sans doute moins de nous indiquer où positionner le curseur moral et politique, que de remettre en question une vision simpliste, et surtout déconnectée de la réalité, de la lutte entre les « bons et les méchants ».
Discussion
I assume from the text that a washing machine(s) is/are in fact visible in them. So it seems that these may be the objects inviting a new "deification" as a consequence of this subtle shift
... sounds like a case of surrealist-derivative stuff. Googling led me to the name Paul Delvaux, a minor name to put it mildly, ... but he came up only because he painted **one** painting called "Les Vestales". And no washing machines in it as far as I could see...
En somme, cette expression souligne le rôle de l'art dans la remise en question des normes et des représentations sociales, en mettant en lumière des subtilités et des nuances qui remettent en cause les conceptions traditionnelles des identités de genre.
L'auteur évoque une série d'œuvres d'art intitulée "vestales", qui est composée de quatre toiles de petit format. Ces œuvres sont liées à l'idée du soin, symbolisé par le lave-linge traditionnellement associé à la féminité, ainsi qu'à la charge mentale qui a longtemps été imposée aux femmes. D'autre part, l'œuvre aborde également le thème de la force, représentée par la musculature masculine. Le but de ces représentations est de remettre en question les stéréotypes et les conceptions figées des identités de genre.