| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Present Tense in Source Language for historical texts: should it be translated into the past tense? Thread poster: Susan Brodar
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Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 18:30
Dutch to English
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| Historical present/dramatic effect | Nov 13, 2015 |
I agree with both Lingua 5B and fbbest to use the historical present for dramatic effect. I would put it in a separate paragraph, or even indent it, to separate it from the rest of the text written in the past tense.
| | | | Olav Karlsen
Norway
Local time: 02:30
English to Norwegian
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| Variatio delictat | Nov 16, 2015 |
Tina Vonhof wrote:
I agree with both Lingua 5B and fbbest to use the historical present for dramatic effect. I would put it in a separate paragraph, or even indent it, to separate it from the rest of the text written in the past tense.
Agree with Lingua 5B.
Since I have read quite a few history books in English as well as Norwegian/Swedish, I can't help noticing that whole pages in a single tense are boring to read. By using the dramatic present tense in the appropriate places it attracts attention and conveys facts that are easier to remember. But this is the responsibility of the author. Since I translate from English and German, the usage in Norwegian is the same, and therefore I normally translate in the same tense when the subject matter is history.
[Edited at 2015-11-16 11:41 GMT]
| | | | | Same problem between French and English | Nov 16, 2015 |
When I have come across this problem with French translation students, I have always explained that the "historical present" may be very common in French as a stylistic device but is not common practice in English. I tell them that they may well stumble across odd occurrences of such usage in English but not on an almost daily basis as in French.
I always advise them to use the past tense in English and to remember that, when translating recounted events written in the past tense in Engli... See more When I have come across this problem with French translation students, I have always explained that the "historical present" may be very common in French as a stylistic device but is not common practice in English. I tell them that they may well stumble across odd occurrences of such usage in English but not on an almost daily basis as in French.
I always advise them to use the past tense in English and to remember that, when translating recounted events written in the past tense in English, they may well be advised to consider the present in French. Minute writing is a classic example: in French one writes in the present and in English in the past. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Used very sparingly, the present is effective | Nov 16, 2015 |
For me, because it is used very much more in live, spoken situations than in written history, I find the present tense brings things down on a familiar level.
Effective for the dramatic moment - when it carries a sense of 'here and now' and unreflected reactions. It can project the reader into a sudden discovery, or whatever the situation is.
Carried on too long, it has the effect - for me - of reducing the situation to something commonplace, like a chat with the neighb... See more For me, because it is used very much more in live, spoken situations than in written history, I find the present tense brings things down on a familiar level.
Effective for the dramatic moment - when it carries a sense of 'here and now' and unreflected reactions. It can project the reader into a sudden discovery, or whatever the situation is.
Carried on too long, it has the effect - for me - of reducing the situation to something commonplace, like a chat with the neighbours. It is no longer dramatic(al), and as others have mentioned, can even seem tedious.
Because the narrative present is used on homely, perhaps trivial occasions, it can actually trivialise a story that is supposed to be dramatic! It depends entirely on the story being told, and the writer or speaker. It had never struck me that Simon Schama uses the present. By standing on historic sites - or moving around them and having the camera zoom in on details - he brings the past close up and makes the present tense sound appropriate (to me at least).
However, if I had the same text in writing, without the moving images on screen, I might well think it would be more appropriate to use the past. ▲ Collapse
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Balasubramaniam L. 
India
Local time: 06:00
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
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SITE LOCALIZER | Present tense preferable, as these are letters | Nov 16, 2015 |
In my view, the present tense will give better effect as these are letters, and the reader is being transported to the time and place when the letters were written, ie, the present tense in those bygone days.
I would therefore retain the present tense, even when to the current reader these events happened long ago,
[Edited at 2015-11-16 13:52 GMT]
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