English to French translation

It was as it was

April 29, 2004

This is a letter sent to Le Nouvel Observateur (2059) after their article on Mel Gibson's film The Passion (my translation):

You say that "However, Jean-Paul II said : 'It was as it was' (ça s'est passé comme ça (this is what happened))." Well, you're wrong. This English sentence means "cela s'est passé comme cela s'est passé" (It happened as it happened), or more simply "Cela s'est passé" (It happened). In other words, we don't know how it happened. All we know is, it happened. It's a way to remain neutral. If he had wanted to say "Cela s'est passé comme ça" (This is what happened), the Pope would have said "That is how it was". It might be a small mistake, but the consequences are huge. What exactly did the Pope say, and in what language? Frances H. (English and a non-believer)

This shows how a controversial translation can confuse everyone and make someone as important as the Pope sound like he said something he actually didn't say. I actually don't agree entirely with the reader; I think "It was as it was" could be translated in many different ways. The problem here is that this sentence is quite mysterious and vague, so it is very difficult to understand and hence to translate. The other issue that is raised is the question of the language the Pope used. Did he use English, or is "It was as it was" a translation of his original comment in Polish or Latin? If it is a translation, we're in danger of being in a case of Chinese whispers, where the real meaning is diluted and possibly corrupted by a series of inaccurate translations.

I must say I was mystified by the Pope's comment and would be hard-pushed to know how to translate it, as I really don't understand what he meant. Anyone out there willing to give an explanation, and, better yet, a translation in French?

Comments

I think what the Pope means, is that there is no room for discussion or interpretation about what happened (presumably from the Bible?). Hmnnnnn.

And it gets worse (in terms of linguistics that is, the film I ignore).

The difference between

"It was as it was"

and

"That is how it was"

is more subtle than Frances H believes. A very slight modification of strees and pitch and the first example can mean very precisely "Cela s'est passe comme ca". It isn't always easy to get a "disprefered" interpretation once you have fixed a prefered on in your head, but try saying the first sentence with a rising pitch and tonic accent (stress) on the "as" and a slight pause/caesura after it.

We don't know what language the Pope spoke his comment in but we do know that he is a native Polish speaker. How/as and their translation equivalents often distribute slightly differently between languages and in some languages there is just one lexeme for both. In Polish "as" might be according to situation "tak" or "jak" and how might also be "jak". Consider Italian - no don't enough comparative linguistics for one day!

I immediately interpreted the Pope's remark to mean "It was just like that". That is to say "the film is accurate".

I took the Pope's words to mean "I am remaining neutral and not encouraging or denouncing this film. The mere fact that I have spoken about it should be enough to make Mel Gibson richer so he can build more churches, while I haven't actually stooped to giving a film review as that might be considered vulgar." What a polititian.

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