# passeur de culture



## charlie2

Bonjour,



> X démontre que son auteur est un formidable passeur de notre culture, de surcroît fin gourmet et admirateur du « style français » puisque [...]


 
X est un livre en chinois qui introduit le lecture à la culture française.

Comment peut-on traduire "passeur" dans ce contexte?

Merci d'avance.


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## timpeac

Within the context, "importer" perhaps?


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## Cath.S.

I was going to suggest _mentor_ or _guide_.


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## timpeac

Another idea (that I like more that my first suggestion) - purveyor.


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## Kelly B

And "conveyor" came to mind, but unfortunately it has too strong an association with assembly lines. One who conveys, then.


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## charlie2

Thank you, everyone. 
My understanding of the word in context is that the author is definitely a purveyor but more than that. I would not imagine myself calling him a mentor, but in a way he is indeed a guide.
He navigates between the two cultures, picked out things that might be of interests to the Chinese readers (based on his knowledge in and experience with the French culture) and presented them in his book in his personal way.
Do we have a word for that?


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## timpeac

charlie2 said:
			
		

> Thank you, everyone.
> My understanding of the word in context is that the author is definitely a purveyor but more than that. I would not imagine myself calling him a mentor, but in a way he is indeed a guide.
> He navigates between the two cultures, picked out things that might be of interests to the Chinese readers (based on his knowledge in and experience with the French culture) and presented them in his book in his personal way.
> Do we have a word for that?


 
To be honest, your extra context just makes me happier with purveyor. For me a purveyor is more than a supplier, a purveyor is a supplier of fine items which have been especially chosen. I think of phrases such as "purveyor of fine wines" "purveyor of cheeses of the world" etc. You wouldn't say "purveyor of carrots"


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## la grive solitaire

Hi charlie,

It's not very elegant  but: a go-between, or an intermediary?


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## charlie2

timpeac said:
			
		

> To be honest, your extra context just makes me happier with purveyor. For me a purveyor is more than a supplier, a purveyor is a supplier of fine items which have been especially chosen. I think of phrases such as "purveyor of fine wines" "purveyor of cheeses of the world" etc. You wouldn't say "purveyor of carrots"


Yes, it may be as close as we can get but... in translating this _passeur de culture_ as purveyor (of culture),are we not implying that the things introduced are _fine_ _items_ (in the culture being introduced) instead of _interesting stuff_ (like how the French people swear) ?
Perhaps I am making too fine a distinction.


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## Agnès E.

Yes, we are, Charlie. You have caught it.


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## charlie2

Agnès E. said:
			
		

> Yes, we are, Charlie. You have caught it.


Et il n'y a pas de remède?!
Hey, happy 8114!


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## Gil

My try:
interpreter


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## timpeac

At the end of the day - are we trying to translate here or interpret the text? My view is that you should chose the word closest in sense to the original - as long (and it is an important "as long") as the result is acceptable in the target language. The original French writer could have written "guide" "interprète" or any other word but he chose "passeur" - and a "passeur" is someone who trades in moving items from one place to another (is it not?). Otherwise we are interpreting the writer, not translating. My grumpy 2p. A purveyor is a supplier of what he considers to be the best bits - so that can be swearing as easily as "high" culture.


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## charlie2

timpeac said:
			
		

> At the end of the day - are we trying to translate here or interpret the text? My view is that you should chose the word closest in sense to the original - as long (and it is an important "as long") as the result is acceptable in the target language. The original French writer could have written "guide" "interprète" or any other word but he chose "passeur" - and a "passeur" is someone who trades in moving items from one place to another (is it not?). Otherwise we are interpreting the writer, not translating. My grumpy 2p. A purveyor is a supplier of what he considers to be the best bits - so that can be swearing as easily as "high" culture.


Thank you.


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## Gil

> and a "passeur" is someone who trades in moving items from one place to another (is it not?).
> 
> 
> 
> Maybe sometimes...I am not sure about this time.  I chose the second meaning and did not think "smuggler" would do the job
> 
> 
> 
> 
> passeur, euse [pAsZY, Vz] n.
> • 1260; de passer
> 1¨ Personne qui conduit un bac, un bateau, une barque pour traverser un cours d'eau. Þ batelier.
> 2¨ Personne qui fait passer clandestinement une frontière, traverser une zone interdite, etc. Passeur de drogue. Þ trafiquant; arg. fourmi.
> 3¨ Sport Personne qui passe le ballon, fait une passe.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Source:  Le Petit Robert.
Click to expand...


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## timpeac

Gil said:
			
		

> Maybe sometimes...I am not sure about this time. I chose the second meaning.
> 
> Source: Le Petit Robert.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So do I - and maybe I am being too kind by my purveyor. It sounds like he is being a trafficker of French culture then, doesn't it?
Click to expand...


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## Gil

"Passeur" is not always pejorative.  Some "passeurs" were heroes.  





> Le voyage a été préparé et organisé par l'Armée Juive: ses passeurs n'en sont pas à leur première équipée. Aux dires de l'un d'entre eux, il a fait franchir la frontière à mille quatre-vingts personnes (F. HAMMEL, Souviens-toi d'Amalek, 1982, p.177):


Source: TLFi


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## timpeac

Either way "goods" "people" or "things" are being transferred, right?


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## Gil

timpeac said:
			
		

> Either way "goods" "people" or "things" are being transferred, right?



It might even be only information...


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## timpeac

Gil said:
			
		

> It might even be only information...


Not according to that dictionary entry you quote (unless you mean computer disks, or documents, which would count as things)...

But my point is that the definitions are all about transferring...something, not interpreting etc it. So I don't see why we should translate it as anything other than a word meaning someone who transfers something.


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## Greg Mosse

In British English we say:

_cultural architect_

for someone whose charisma and ideas lead others ...
Best
Greg


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## la grive solitaire

How about _a cultural transmitter_ or _a_ _transmitter of culture_?


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## Gil

timpeac said:
			
		

> Not according to that dictionary entry you quote (unless you mean computer disks, or documents, which would count as things)...
> 
> But my point is that the definitions are all about transferring...something, not interpreting etc it. So I don't see why we should translate it as anything other than a word meaning someone who transfers something.


 Sometimes, I care more about context (axe syntagmatique ) than about definitions (axe paradigmatique) :


> X démontre que son auteur est un formidable passeur de notre culture, de surcroît fin gourmet et admirateur du « style français » puisque [...]
> 
> X est un livre en chinois qui introduit le lecture à la culture française.


 The author of X has written a book in Chinese in which he shows a great knowledge of French culture and the book serves as an introduction to such culture for Chinese readers. That's the kind of "passeur" he is.

I suspect he might be just a very good:


> popularizer
> 
> n : someone who makes attractive to the general public [syn: populariser, vulgarizer, vulgariser][/QUOTE]


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## timpeac

I see your points Gil - but I suspect that we're not going to agree because I see translation as finding the words in the native language that most closely reflect the meaning of the original, as long as the result is acceptable in the target language. In my opinion "popularizer" for example makes perfect sense in the context, and if you were writing that in English perhaps that is what you Gil would choose to say - but the writer chose "passeur" for his own reasons. You seem to be editorialising to me - which I don't see as being the job of a translator.

Is "populariser of French culture" better English than "purveyor of French culture"? You could probably argue either way, but it seems to me that the choice should be with the word closest to the original.

But hey, if we all agree all the time - what fun would that be?


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## Gil

timpeac said:
			
		

> But hey, if we all agree all the time - what fun would that be?


 I enjoy disagreeing with you
Salut
What if we took the other definition of "passeur":
cultural ferryman


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## timpeac

Gil said:
			
		

> cultural ferryman


 
I like it

Ps - Gil don't edit your text 10 minutes after posting with new info - I could well have missed your gem there as the system doesn't warn others of the update!!


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## Gil

timpeac said:
			
		

> I like it
> 
> Ps - Gil don't edit your text 10 minutes after posting with new info - I could well have missed your gem there as the system doesn't warn others of the update!!



Compris.  Merci.


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## Amityville

Of all the offerings posted here, yours seems the least inappropriate, Tim - your first compliment of the day  but 'purveyor' isn't without its own nuances, in fact no word is nuance-free is it ? It's a word that is rarely used outside the 'purveyor of fine snuff-boxes since 1864' type of context, as you say, but that doesn't detract, it clicks into place nicely - whereas the electronic nuances of 'transmitter', say, which is a priori the most 'straight' translation would overload it. Just my rambling opinion, what do I know.
Cultural ferryman - ace ! Like Charon.


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## lamarmotte71

Honestly, I like purveyor. 

But here goes:
- conveyor

comes to mind but destroys the context of the authors wishes. So what about : connoisseur. Does it do equal justice as purveyor?


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## nancy90

Look at the last definition:

passeur
n. passeur, passeuse
1.  Personne qui conduit un bac, un bateau pour traverser un cours d'eau.
2.  Personne qui fait passer une frontière clandestinement à qqn ou qui passe une marchandise en fraude.
3.  Dans les sports d'équipe, personne qui effectue une passe.
4.  Personne qui fait connaître, propage un savoir et sert d'intermédiaire entre les cultures, les générations.
Larousse Pratique. © 2005 Editions Larousse.


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## nancy90

What about culture purveyor?


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## ORVET

My try :

cultural propagator


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## wendyredredrobin

I went for Gil's suggestion (interpreter) for this sentence about street photographers:
Sentinelles éveillées, témoins de leur époque, médiums, passeurs de l’invisible, ce sont tous des collectionneurs de rêves.


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