'Dora' sagt sie. 'Wie Dorf-Randlage'

English translation: 'Dora' she said. 'As in Distant Or Rural Area'

08:47 Aug 4, 2021

German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / Ueber Menschen - Novel by Juli Zeh

German term or phrase: 'Dora' sagt sie. 'Wie Dorf-Randlage'

I am translating part of a novel (Ueber Menschen) by German author Juli Zeh. She moves from the city to the country and buys a house in need of renovation on the outskirts of the village. The setting for the novel is the fictional town of Bracken in Brandenburg, eastern Germany. The part I am stuck on is when Dora introduces herself. Gote her neighbour introduces himself first by saying 'Gote wie Gottfried'. Dora then replies 'Dora wie Dorf-Randlage'. Here is an extract from the novel:

'Dora' sagt sie. 'Wie Dorf-Randlage'. Das ist ihr spontan eingefallen. Manchmal bringt ihr Werber-Gehirn solche Kurzschluesse hervor. Der Nachbarn ignoriert den Spruch. Further on it says:

'Dorfrandlage' hat in der Anzeige gestanden. Dora hat sich vorgestellt, wie ruhig es am Dorfrand sein muesste. Taetsachlich erstrecken sich hinter dem linken Zaun weitlaeufige Felder. Aber auf denen sind in den letzten Tage droehnende Traktoren mit Pfluegen, Eggen und Saatmaschinen hin-und hergefarhren. Ansonsten beduetet Wohnen am Ortsschild, dass der Transitverkehrr aus Plausitz mit satten 100 Stundenkilometern am Haus vorbeidonnert.

When Dora introduces herself a literal translation would be 'like on the village outskirts' but this doesn't seem to be a saying or idiomatic in my opinion. It's obviously also a play on words but I'm not sure how to replicate this? I wondered whether Dora was a reference to the concentration camp 'Mittelbau Dora' ('Dora like the concentration camp').

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks
Lesley

Lesley Garbett KudoZ activity Questions: 3 (none open) Answers: 0 United Kingdom
Local time: 21:02

English translation:'Dora' she said. 'As in Distant Or Rural Area'

Explanation:
Dorfrandlage pretty much means

D-istant
O-r
R-ural
A-rea.

Maybe that's something you could weave into your text?

Selected response from:

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 16:02

Grading comment

Thanks again :-)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +8

'Dora' she said. 'As in Distant Or Rural Area'

Michael Martin, MA

"Dora" she says as in "Dora on the edge"

David Hollywood

Discussion entries: 7

Answers

6 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +8

'Dora' she said. 'As in Distant Or Rural Area'

Explanation:
Dorfrandlage pretty much means

D-istant
O-r
R-ural
A-rea.

Maybe that's something you could weave into your text?

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 16:02
Works in field
Native speaker of:

German,

English
PRO pts in category: 43

Grading comment

Thanks again :-)

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks so much, Michael, that's brilliant and so clever.

17 hrs confidence:

"Dora" she says as in "Dora on the edge"

Explanation:
in your context

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2021-08-05 02:34:08 GMT)
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let the thoughts go free

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Note added at 17 hrs (2021-08-05 02:37:24 GMT)
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her spontaneous thought combining her mental state and her geographic location

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 hrs (2021-08-05 02:58:32 GMT)
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covers both situations

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Note added at 19 hrs (2021-08-05 04:19:29 GMT)
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anyway you've got so many agrees just throwing in my ideas

David Hollywood
Local time: 17:02
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 50

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks for your help David, I've got so many brilliant ideas.

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'Dora' sagt sie. 'Wie Dorf-Randlage'

English translation: 'Dora' she said. 'As in Distant Or Rural Area'

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