This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
término
regímenes registrados
Aug 20, 2016 20:30
7 yrs ago
16 viewers *
Spanish term

intervenciones

Spanish to English Art/Literary Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc. scholarly/political debates
Context is position-taking or argument by a scholarly person in an ongoing controversy of public and political interest. Register is fairly formal.

"Dada su distinguida trayectoria intelectual y política de ambos lados del Atlántico, las intervenciones de Prats Galíndez en el debate sobre el proyecto independentista tuvieron honda repercusión entre las élites tanto coloniales como metropolitanas."

This sense of "intervenciones" refers to a taking-part-in, and does not necessarily signify standing up in a lecture hall and speaking. It can mean, and in the quoted passage does mean, a voicing of opinion within the framework of an ongoing controversy. That voicing of opinion may be via publishing an article or a book, giving a lecture, speaking on a panel, imparting a university course, or any of a host of other means. It may be a one-off, or an ongoing campaign of advocacy/argument.

There is a potentially subtle issue of plural/singular. The cognate word in English is often used in the singular in the sense I'm looking for, but only exceedingly rarely (and, I think, awkwardly) in the plural.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +4 contribution(s)
3 +2 the involvement/participation of... in the debate
4 +1 interventions
3 +1 comments
3 statements - speeches - remarks - declarations
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): philgoddard

When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.

How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:

An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)

A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).

Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.

When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.

* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.

Discussion

David Ronder Aug 22, 2016:
@Robert Yes, also connotations of decisiveness and formality
Robert Carter Aug 22, 2016:
@David Even so, many of those references relate to a kind of "meddling" or "interceding" or even "interfering", whereas, to me, the Spanish word "intervenciones" doesn't have that same connotation. It's more neutral.
David Ronder Aug 22, 2016:
@robert More than 6 million Google hits for "intervention in the debate", many reputable sources: https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1...

It's still not my preferred option, for reasons of register as I've mentioned, but I'm less and less sure...
Robert Carter Aug 22, 2016:
@David Thanks for the reference. It still sounds odd to me even in that article. I can't remember ever coming across it used in that sense, but hey, anecdotal evidence is not really evidence of anything, perhaps I just have a blind spot. I would understand it being used in the sense of "interrupting" in a debate, but that's not really the meaning here. As for the UK or US usage point, I really have no idea.
David Ronder Aug 22, 2016:
It may be more UK than US English, as it's not uncommon here: Where business stands: In or Out? – The Times & The Sunday Times
www.thetimes.co.uk/static/ceo-summit-2016/where-business-st...
Her flagship intervention in the debate was a warning that “cutting ourselves off from Europe would have devastating consequences” for the sport in the UK.
Robert Carter Aug 22, 2016:
Contributions This is the closest to what "intervenciones" means here. It clearly doesn't mean "interventions" in any usual sense of that word, so it's not an equivalent, exact or otherwise; indeed using "interventions" would simply be confusing, unnecessary, and "sound translated".
Andy Watkinson Aug 22, 2016:
I'd like to "romper una lanza" in favour of contributions because although the word may initially sound positive, that doesn't necessarily mean that his stance was pro-independence.

He obviously wasn't neutral and might have been highly critical of the idea, but the contributions he brought to the debate were influential. The text is underlining his influence.

Wouldn't we say of someone highly critical of an idea (e.g. slavery) that his contributions were influential, even decisive?
And were that person's contributions negative towards the idea in question? Obviously they were.
JohnMcDove Aug 22, 2016:
Understood. I would not use "interventions" in this context, per the reasons you are bringing up. How do you call the "contributions" some lord brings to the fore at a Parliamentary debate? That would be the word... I'd go with "the times he took the floor"... for example. And I fully agree that this is a tricky question.
Marcelo González Aug 21, 2016:
@David re: the use of "contributions to" I agree completely: it's not necessarily positive, nor is the commonly-used, lower-register option of "comments." That said, our choices here do not need to reflect a one-for-one approach, wherein source and target register is matched at the lexical level. That is, a small reduction at this level can be made-up (or compensated) for at the discourse level.
Marcelo González Aug 21, 2016:
There are several considerations... ...not the least important of which may be frequency of use and level of language (i.e., register). Whereas the cognate may fit the bill with regard to the latter (after all, it is formal), it may not come close with respect to its frequency. Also, if we're interested in producing a target text that sounds as natural as the original, we could probably discount "interventions" here (with all due respect to Phil), as its use with this meaning (especially in the plural form) would be unusual, at least in the United States. I couldn't say, in this regard, about other countries...
David Ronder Aug 21, 2016:
A contribution to a debate is not necessarily positive: it could be a critique, or a rebuttal, or even a denunciation.

I have been thinking about Phil Goddard's argument that interventions is the exact equivalent. We do use it English, but it is rarer and I would argue belongs to a more formal register. So I half agree with him - but not that this question is non-pro. It's tricky.
JohnMcDove Aug 21, 2016:
Yes, yes, "aportaciones" sounds good, but what if these "contributions" are not so positive... "Contribution" has a positive connotation, while "intervenciones" is more neutral, and it can even be "negative". As usual, the context is important here.
Andy Watkinson Aug 21, 2016:
I agree that "contributions" is a good candidate - unfortunately it was first suggested by polyglot45 who has not posted an answer.

When I mentally reword the original, I can easily imagine the word "aportaciones" being used instead of "intervenciones", hence "contributions"
philgoddard Aug 20, 2016:
It's the same concept in English, interventions. If there's an exact equivalent, I think you should use it.
polyglot45 Aug 20, 2016:
his contributions to the debate on

Proposed translations

+4
7 hrs
Selected

contribution(s)

Contribution(s) to the debate is the usual phrasing.

See examples in the references below.
Reference:

http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ733440

http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/about/contribution-to-debate.html

Peer comment(s):
agree David Ronder : Yes, but I have also suggested an alternative (see my answer).
1 hr
agree Marcelo González : As I mention in a note to my suggestion of 'comments,' this is also a good option, as it's commonly used for both the spoken and written word in academia.
7 hrs
agree neilmac : Probably best in show so far (IMHO) ...
1 day 10 hrs
agree Robert Carter
1 day 11 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+2
10 mins

the involvement/participation of... in the debate

Think that is what is meant here.
Peer comment(s):
agree Patrice
4 hrs
Gracias, Patrice.
agree David Ronder : I can't believe I've only just noticed this! I will delete my answer now. Involvement, yes./I've tried to hide my answer, but it's not working from my phone. Will try tomorrow from laptop.
1 day 2 hrs
Thanks, David.
Something went wrong...
+1
38 mins

comments

...X's comments in the ongoing debate on/regarding/with respect to...

The word 'ongoing' may be especially helpful in this context.

I think polyglot's suggestion (in Discussion) of 'contributions (to)' is also a good option.

Suerte, Pablo Julián, ¡y saludos desde Jamaica!
Peer comment(s):
agree Patrice
4 hrs
Thanks, Patrice :-)
Something went wrong...
7 hrs

statements - speeches - remarks - declarations

Probably I agree with what has already been suggested.

Nonetheless, I give you these four options, as I understand there is a degree of formality on his participation.

Thus, "the statements made by Prats Galíndez in the discussion about..." are not just "comments" or "contributions", these have some more weight than that...

I can make a contribution to this question, or I can make a contribution that is relevant, and that would be some kind of a "statement" of sorts...

The option "speeches", may or may not work, but regardless of the length and import of the "intervention", regardless of the import of the "declarations" made in such speeches, are nonetheless "something that is spoken; an utterance, remark, or declaration"

Maybe, "expositions" or "presentations" could fit the bill too, but you may need to see how that would fit in the overall context.

Hope my contribution has shed some light on this "controverted" issue... ;-)

¡Saludos, Pablo Julián!

The other could be "the statements every time he participated..."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day6 hrs (2016-08-22 02:46:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Looking at the Spanish side of this equation, I am thinking more and more about "his contentions and arguments", but maybe a non-literal translation would work better, i.e., the moments and the instances when "he took the floor".

His "presentations", as I noted before still seem to be a simple option.

Linguee gives some examples too.

http://www.linguee.com/spanish-english/translation/el orden ...
Something went wrong...
+1
1 day 18 hrs

interventions

If only to "romper una lanza" in favour of literal translations when they are valid.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day18 hrs (2016-08-22 15:16:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

http://es.bab.la/diccionario/ingles-espanol/intervene

"...there has to be a fair opportunity for Members to intervene in debate..."
Reference:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/intervene

Peer comment(s):
agree David Ronder : A timely late intervention in the discussion, and I am beginning to think this is just about valid.
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search