# courant de pensée



## Kakie

Comment traduiriez-vous 'un courant de pensee'?. Par exemple, le surrealisme correspond a un certain courant de pensee du vingtieme siecle.


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## Franglais1969

Salut,

I would try "Way of thinking," however, please await better suggestions.


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## Venusia

perhaps wave of thinking.


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## dohnut

I would have said the same as Franglais1969 or mindset.


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## Kat LaQ

We also have the expression "train of thought".
It is used most often in "I lost my train of thought", which is said when you are speaking and you suddenly can't remember what you were saying.
But it can also be used in a broader sense to represent a way of thinking.

"These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought." 
-Frederick Douglass


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## viera

How about 'school of thought'?


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## Cath.S.

viera said:


> How about 'school of thought'?


Or _trend of thought._


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## Franglais1969

egueule said:


> Or _trend of thought._


 
I must confess, I have never heard of that one before, egueule.


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## dohnut

Franglais1969 said:


> I must confess, I have never heard of that one before, egueule.



I have, but it's rarely used - there are far better phrases.


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## Cath.S.

It is used. Just do a Google search. 
Or let me do it for you, I'm not feeling lazy tonight.
The trend of thought in physics
make sure that you grasp the main trend of thought in the work being summarized.
Modernism is a trend of thought which affirms the power of human beings to
we have encountered a disturbing trend of thought

All of the abovewere not cherry-picked and all come from academic contexts.

_Way of thinking_ is very common - and also very vague, it does not translate well the concept of_ courant_.


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## Franglais1969

egueule said:


> It is used. Just do a Google search.
> Or let me do it for you, I'm not feeling lazy tonight.
> The trend of thought in physics
> make sure that you grasp the main trend of thought in the work being summarized.
> Modernism is a trend of thought which affirms the power of human beings to
> we have encountered a disturbing trend of thought
> 
> All of the abovewere not cherry-picked and all come from academic contexts.
> 
> _Way of thinking_ is very common - and also very vague, it does not translate well the concept of_ courant_.


 
egueule, I didn't doubt you; I just said I hadn't heard it before. LOL

Je ne voulais pas t'offenser.


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## Cath.S.

Franglais1969 said:


> egueule, I didn't doubtyou; I just said I hadn't heard it before. LOL
> 
> Je ne voulais pas t'offenser.


J'aime bien prouver ce que j'avance. 
Aucun de nous ne peut s'attendre à être cru sur parole, ce n'est que justice.


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## judkinsc

I would change it a little, as it's common to say "the current trend in X is Y," but not that "the current trend of thought in X is Y."


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## Kat LaQ

"Trend of thought" sounds nice, because it has some movement in it, as I assume _courant_ does. (But I confess to not quite understanding the nuance of _courant_ _de pensée_.) However, despite the well picked sources, I find "trend of thought" to be mostly inappropriately used: 

The trend of thought in physics  perfect!
make sure that you grasp the main trend of thought in the work being summarized.   and in a site on writing, no less! "the main idea" is much better here.
Modernism is a trend of thought which affirms the power of human beings to  Modernism is not a trend of thought! Some might consider it a trend, but "school of thought" is better.
we have encountered a disturbing trend of thought - acceptable, but not great. "disturbing trend" would be an improvement, but the whole paragraph is shaky.

"trend of thought (in physics)" = the direction in which a lot of people (working in physics) are going. 
"school of thought" = a system of beliefs accepted as authoritative by some group or school 
"train of thought"= the flow or logic which links the various parts of a large idea or an argument together

Which one fits _courant_ _de pensée _best?  My vote is for "school of thought" given the context of surrealism.


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## Cath.S.

Kat LaQ said:


> "Trend of thought" sounds nice, because it has some movement in it, as I assume _courant_ does. (But I confess to not quite understanding the nuance of _courant_ _de pensée_.) However, despite the well picked sources, I find "trend of thought" to be mostly inappropriately used:
> 
> The trend of thought in physics  perfect!
> make sure that you grasp the main trend of thought in the work being summarized.   and in a site on writing, no less! "the main idea" is much better here.
> Modernism is a trend of thought which affirms the power of human beings to  Modernism is not a trend of thought! Some might consider it a trend, but "school of thought" is better.
> we have encountered a disturbing trend of thought - acceptable, but not great. "disturbing trend" would be an improvement, but the whole paragraph is shaky.
> 
> "trend of thought (in physics)" = the direction in which a lot of people (working in physics) are going.
> "school of thought" = a system of beliefs accepted as authoritative by some group or school
> "train of thought"= the flow or logic which links the various parts of a large idea or an argument together
> 
> Which one fits _courant_ _de pensée _best? My vote is for "school of thought" given the context of surrealism.


Merci pour ta réponse bien argumentée, Kat LaQ.  

Grâce à elle, je suis désormais d'avis que school of thought est probablement la meilleure solution, bien que je pense qu'en parlant du rurréalisme, on pourrait considérer que _courant de pensée_ pouvait signifier  "the direction in which a lot of people (in the art world) were going."  

Peut-être le surréalisme a-t-il commencé son existence en tant que _trend of thought_, pour s'étabilr ensuite en tant que_ school of thought, _plus statique, déjà défini maintes fois.


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## broglet

"Train of thought" is perfect English but inappropriate here.  A train of thought is something an individual has, not a century, if you follow my train  of thought.

Franglais's "way of thinking" seems to my British ear more English and more apposite to the context than either "train of thought", "trend of thought" or "school of thought".  

I would also consider "intellectual trend", which is less of a direct translation but is good English and, I feel, captures the idea.


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## zam

dohnut said:


> 1) I have, but it's rarely used
> 
> 2) there are far better phrases.


 
 
1) Google in “trend of thought” and you’ll get 71,000 hits. Which for a “rarely used” phrase, you’ll agree with me is not bad.

2) Such as the one you agree with maybe (in your post#4), namely “way of thinking” ? (which translates as “façon de penser/mode de pensée”). 

This is such a categorical assertion, yet is not backed up by any explanation, examples or illustrations. 
Such statements are also considered to be a very discourteous way of disagreeing with someone in this forum.

You also offer “mindset”, which can be translated in many different ways, but “courant de pensée” is not one of them, certainly not as it’s used here. 
Mindset (a habitual way of thinking –compact OED) : mentalité/état d’esprit/façon de pensée/façon de voir les choses/cadre de pensée/etc.

IMO, these terms may be just about acceptable in a discussion to mean very loosely “courant de pensée” if you wanted to roughly convey what someone is saying, but not as a proper translation.

Neither is “Train of thought” = a series of connected thoughts. _You interrupted my train of thought - Now I can't remember what I was going to say __(from FreeDictionary.com) _
_= __fil de pensée/cheminement de pensée_

_(e.g: I’ve lost my train of thought = j’ai perdu le fil de ma pensée)_

Since surrealism was a revolutionary movement in art and literature, I’m not sure that “courant de pensée” is the appropriate term here but that’s beside the point. It’s not outrageously shocking, far from it, and would probably go unnoticed.
I agree with Viera, Kat and Egueule that “school of thought” is the best option here,  with “movement” being another possibility.


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## RuK

For surrealism etc, I would say_ school of thought_ or_ intellectual movement. _


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## dohnut

zam said:


> 1) Google in “trend of thought” and you’ll get 71,000 hits. Which for a “rarely used” phrase, you’ll agree with me is not bad.
> 
> 2) Such as the one you agree with maybe (in your post#4), namely “way of thinking” ? (which translates as “façon de penser/mode de pensée”).
> 
> This is such a categorical assertion, yet is not backed up by any explanation, examples or illustrations.
> Such statements are also considered to be a very discourteous way of disagreeing with someone in this forum.
> 
> You also offer “mindset”, which can be translated in many different ways, but “courant de pensée” is not one of them, certainly not as it’s used here.
> Mindset (a habitual way of thinking –compact OED) : mentalité/état d’esprit/façon de pensée/façon de voir les choses/cadre de pensée/etc.
> 
> IMO, these terms may be just about acceptable in a discussion to mean very loosely “courant de pensée” if you wanted to roughly convey what someone is saying, but not as a proper translation.
> 
> Neither is “Train of thought” = a series of connected thoughts. _You interrupted my train of thought - Now I can't remember what I was going to say __(from FreeDictionary.com) _
> _= __fil de pensée/cheminement de pensée_
> 
> _(e.g: I’ve lost my train of thought = j’ai perdu le fil de ma pensée)_
> 
> Since surrealism was a revolutionary movement in art and literature, I’m not sure that “courant de pensée” is the appropriate term here but that’s beside the point. It’s not outrageously shocking, far from it, and would probably go unnoticed.
> I agree with Viera, Kat and Egueule that “school of thought” is the best option here,  with “movement” being another possibility.



Sorry, I didn't mean to offend anyone and maybe a phrased what I was saying badly....

What I meant was that I thought the other suggestions would be more likely and that I although I'd heard the term "trend of thought" before, I didn't think it was as common as others.

You're right I shouldn't have made such a sweeping statement with no backup, however if we're going down the route of google statistics, the other terms range from, 1.3 million to 13 million hits 

Apologies everyone.


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## zam

dohnut said:


> the other terms range from, 1.3 million to 13 million hits


 
Which "other terms" do you mean exactly?

("school of thought= 1,2 m). 

The others (way of thinking, etc.) are irrelevant here imo.


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## dohnut

I agreed, apologised and added a little light hearted jest - whoops


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## Cath.S.

> You're right I shouldn't have made such a sweeping statement with no backup, however if we're going down the route of google statistics, the other terms range from, 1.3 million to 13 million hits


Même si _school of thought_ obtenait 999 milliards de résultats par Google, cela ne rendrait pas _trend of thought_ rare pour autant. Moins commun, peut-être, rare, non. Un terme rare n'est pas employé par des dizaines de milliers de locuteurs. Certains termes (les hapax) ne sont employés qu'une seule fois dans toute l'histoire de la littérature. Ça, c'est de la rareté !


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## spotski

Ironically, the phrase that best captures the idea in English is in German! And I mean _zeitgeist_. Best used in the sense of  "the spirit of the times", which works for your quote. I quibble with "school of thought" because I would say that surrealism *IS* the school of thought, born of the spirit of the times.


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## dohnut

egueule said:


> Or _trend of thought._



 j'espère que ma petite remarque ne vous aura pas offensé


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## broglet

Excellent suggestion, spotski. I admire your train of thought. Zeitgeist is such a perfect imaginative leap, it is practically surreal (although I would quibble with you about surrealism being a school of thought; it is more a form of expression)


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## spotski

I'm blushing. Mais avec reconnaisance.


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## Nicomon

egueule said:


> Grâce à elle, je suis désormais d'avis que school of thought est probablement la meilleure solution, bien que je pense qu'en parlant du surréalisme, on pourrait considérer que _courant de pensée_ pouvait signifier "the direction in which a lot of people (in the art world) were going."
> 
> Peut-être le surréalisme a-t-il commencé son existence en tant que _trend of thought_, pour s'étabilr ensuite en tant que_ school of thought, _plus statique, déjà défini maintes fois.


 
Mon grain de sel (pour ce qu'il vaut). Comme tu dis... probablement la meilleure solution. Sauf que personnellement, je traduis _school of thought_ par _école de pensée (_et en passant, WR aussi)  L'expression me semble en effet plus statique que "courant de pensée". àma, il y a dans le mot "courant" une idée de "mouvement vers", "tendance", direction. Dans ce sens, je préfère ta suggestion de "_trend of thought_". Quelques personnes ont aussi parlé de mouvement. Ruk a suggéré _intellectual movement..._ j'aime bien.  Le Robert and Collins rend en effet "courant surréaliste" par _surrealist movement. _

L'auteur a écrit _*courant* de pensée_. Donc la question qu'un traducteur se pose, c'est: doit-on respecter le texte original, ou corriger en se disant qu'il aurait dû écrire école de pensée, et ensuite traduire par _school of thought.  _

Bien d'accord que ni _way of thinking,_ ni _train of thought_ ni _mindset _ne rendent bien l'idée.


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## Kakie

Thank you very much for all these suggestions! I think that, in the way I wanted to use it, "school of thought" or "trend of thought" are the best!! But I learn a lot from your other suggestions too! Thanks a lot!


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## catay

There is also the expression "current of thought" which perhaps captures the spirit of the original phrase.


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## pollycat34

"Trend of thought" is just awful and I wonder if any of these hits are badly translated academic texts, or automatic translations. I agree with "school of thought", "way of thinking, "mindset, "train of thought". Kakie think twice before using "trend of thought". If you go back over the answers you will notice that it is only the French speakers who want you to use this!


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## AntonioZ

Une école de pensée : _school of thought_. Par exemple, en géographie, l'école de Los Angeles analyse l'évolution des villes allant vers une multiplication de centres au sein d'une même ville. Mais cette école dépend d'un courant de pensée (je penche plus en faveur du _trend of thought_). Ce courant de pensée est plus général. 
Pour reprendre le même exemple, avec l'école de Los Angeles en géographie, il s'agit du courant de pensée post-moderniste au sein duquel plusieurs écoles de pensée coexistent.
L'idée du _movement_ me convient aussi, je lui trouve aussi un sens dynamique et assez général.


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## pollycat34

Antonioz, you are a French speaker, of course you like this, but it is just bad English. Could some "anglophone"s please back me up here!


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## pollycat34

To add to my earlier post. If you absolutely have to use trend of thought, please change it to something more along the lines of: current trends in thinking, definitely not "trend in thought".


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## Docbike

I haven't read all the suggestions, but mine would be "school of *thinking*". It is more evocative of a movement in the art world at that time than "school of thought".


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## pollycat34

Thank you Docbike


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## AntonioZ

> but it is just bad English


Pollycat34, I agree it's surely bad english.
 But how do you understand _école de pensée_ and _courant de pensée_ in english ? It's not really the same, at least in french !


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## pollycat34

Hi Antonioz, The distinction might not be as important in English perhaps? I saw that the European Union termbase translates "courant de pensée" by "school of thought". I admit there may some meaning lost in translation, but depending on the context, it might not be a problem. If you really wanted to keep the idea of a trend rather than a school, you could do what I mentioned earlier, rephrase to something like: 
le surrealisme correspond a un certain courant de pensee du vingtieme siecle.
"Surrealism corresponds to certain twentieth century trends in thinking"

But I think far better would be:
"Surrealism corresponded to a particular twentieth century way of thinking"

That works I think, and we managed to avoid trend and school!


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## AntonioZ

Ok, I get it, thanks a lot!


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## The MightyQ

Current thinking in theoretical physics...


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## broglet

and "pensée de courant" is a thought about practical physics


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## The MightyQ

> and "pensée de courant" is a thought about practical physics


:d


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## catay

pollycat34 said:


> le surrealisme correspond a un certain courant de pensee du vingtieme siecle.
> "Surrealism corresponds to certain twentieth century trends in thinking"
> 
> But I think far better would be:
> "Surrealism corresponded to a particular twentieth century way of thinking"
> 
> That works I think, and we managed to avoid trend and school!


 

My suggestion:  
"Surrealism corresponded to a particular current of thought in the twentieth century."
The expression "current of thought" is a term used in a number of contexts, political, philosophical, theological, sociological, to refer to an influential way of thinking.


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## pollycat34

I agree, that sounds good.


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