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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

faire de l’Ombre à la Lumière

English translation:

to outshine (the) light

Added to glossary by Carol Gullidge
Jan 11, 2011 15:45
13 yrs ago
French term

faire de l’Ombre à la Lumière

French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature description of a Near-Death Experience
A peine se trouvait-il en présence des siens qu’il repartit aussitôt dans l’ailleurs, faisant soudain face à un être de lumière de forme humaine, « plus lumineux que la lumière. Il portait une longue chevelure brune jusqu’aux épaules, un peu à la Nazaréenne. Son corps était vêtu de blanc. ******Il faisait de l’Ombre à la Lumière****** et déversait des torrents d’Amour, de bonheur. J’étais noyé dans la Joie, la Béatitude, impossible à décrire. »

_______

A description (in a biography) of an out-of-body experience. The person had just "died" (he had polio and a fever of 41.6C!) and been "transported" to the ceiling from where he was able to look down on his own inert body and his friends and family gathered around. One of his "visions" was of this Christ-like figure dressed in white. But I'm completely stumped by "...faisant de l’Ombre à la Lumière". How exactly does one "faire" such a thing? In other words, what is the meaning of the verb here?

The person speaking here is originally from Brittany. A life-long atheist, he is eventually converted to Christianity - but quite some time after this NDE

I appreciate that this term may or may not have religious/spiritual connotations of which I'm unaware - and would be very grateful if anyone could shed any light on this! Many thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +2 to outshine (the) light
3 +4 to turn Darkness into Light
3 he put the light in the shade
3 He cast a shadow on the light
3 to be more dazzling than light itself
3 he flooded the shades with light
2 +1 cast / put Light itself into Shadow

Discussion

Marian Vieyra Jan 12, 2011:
One more thing... It seems there is a disconnect between what the French conveys to native French speakers and how native English speakers might want to re-interpret the French with known English idioms (turning night into day, darkness into light,shining brighter than the sun etc) in order to make it flow. Que faire?
Sandra Mouton Jan 12, 2011:
About capitals in French They aren't especially weird in English, but definitely unusual in French where they would be used that way in religious texts. So I do agree there is a strong religious and evne mystical undertone here.
Yvonne Gallagher Jan 12, 2011:
absolutely agree with Catherine about use of capitals. I find nothing at all strange about them (in English anyway).
Catherine Gilsenan Jan 12, 2011:
Use of Capitals My interpretation is that the author's intention is to use Light and Darkness as the one Light and the one Darkness, i.e. Jesus is the Light of the World (the one and only), and Darkness, here, signifies its opposite (i.e. everything that is not). The author is also using capitals to emphasise the symbolism. In addition, it is usual practice to refer to the characteristics, or nature, of Jesus, God, etc (as divine) using capital letters (definitely in English).
Yvonne Gallagher Jan 11, 2011:
thinking of San Juan de la Cruz (St. John of the Cross) and his "brighter than the midday sun" image, radiant light of Christ, the midday sun pales in comparison sort of thing
Yvonne Gallagher Jan 11, 2011:
Of course Carol, what a fool am I! Knew I'd seen that phrase somewhere! Yes, so back to actual sentence. Light is eclipsed but in the sense of being brighter, not to shade or shadow.
Carol Gullidge (asker) Jan 11, 2011:
@ gallagy I was thinking of eclipsed in the sense of "better than" or, in this case, "brighter than" (as suggested far above, by Sandra) rather than "overshadowed".
I wouldn't actually be able to use "brighter than light" as this comes a couple of lines above (plus lumineux que la lumière), but that is how I see it: outdoing/outshining Light
Yvonne Gallagher Jan 11, 2011:
sorry to arrive so late at this. Good suggestions and quite liked idea of eclipsed light but on further cogitation think not. Eclipses and shadows have negative connotations and all these NDE seem very positive experiences. My reading is similar to ormiston, "brighter than Light itself".
Carol Gullidge (asker) Jan 11, 2011:
@ fourth, re death it is indeed about an out-of-body experience, but I'm convinced that this particular passage is about Light rather than Death/Darkness - more the light at the end of the tunnel. In this case, the light - a tiny speck to start with - grew bigger and bigger and brighter and brighter... as well as the Christlike figure that WAS Light. And this is classed as a NEAR-death experience, in other words, I don't believe (though I'm not totally sure) that he actually died, even though he appeared (to his family) to fall into a deep coma. Before this, he had been going through a very grim time, hence, in my eyes, "the light at the end of the tunnel", both literally and metaphorically, if you take the NDE literally.
And I too am extremely impressed with the 1000 wph! Gosh, if only...!
Carol Gullidge (asker) Jan 11, 2011:
@ ormiston and Bourth yes, I'm quite won over by both "outshone the light" and "eclipsed..." But these are both yet to be posted as answers, although Joseph's explanation gets pretty close. But I THINK I'm still going to try to avoid any mention of shadow/overshadow, although I love the image of the multiple shadows produced by floodlighting... :)
Sandra Mouton Jan 11, 2011:
@ fourth Wow, 1,000 words an hour, that's a coalmine production rate, indeed! I am pretty sure I could never do that.
Don't you like it though, when, covered in coal dust, you emerge from the pit into the light, only to happen upon these little literary puzzles from capitalising maniacs' books, where everything revolves around understanding if the author really made a lame pun or is just being plain silly? ;-)
Jack Dunwell Jan 11, 2011:
Well I think This has to do with death (or out of body experience)and any answer needs to address this. Personally, I am in awe of this sort of translation, being a mere legal scratcher at the coalface at 1,000 words an hour. It's way beyond my understanding!
Sandra Mouton Jan 11, 2011:
@ormiston Your "outshone the light" (or even "outshone Light") seems to me to express quite rightly what is said in French.
Bourth (X) Jan 11, 2011:
Not sure how "physical" this should be but I can't help thinking of football matches .... you know, when a game is played in daylight but it starts getting dim and they turn the floodlights on, so every player has multiple shadows. That's really just setting the scene, for it gets more complicated than just multiple real, physical shadows ... Here, I think, things are taken a step further and, metaphorically at least, it is the (natural) light that is given a shadow by this supernatural light. Ormiston's "outshine the light" has just popped up while I'm writing - that's what I'm getting at. It's not a physical object that is casting a shadow (by whichever light) but light itself, a "dense" light if you will which is "outshone" by a Brighter Light, so light itself is like a physical object casting a shadow when bathed in this Greater Light. "He (His Light) made light itself cast a shadow".
ormiston Jan 11, 2011:
coming in late on this... I wonder if 'to outshine the light' might work (although perhaps awkward in the past tense here)
Carol Gullidge (asker) Jan 11, 2011:
@ Sandra and cc that's a lovely clear explanation - just what I needed, with the clarification of that "à".

re the capitals, I was perhaps being a little slipshod here, but have stuck religiously to them in the target text. As you say, they are uncharacteristic, and the author IS making a spiritual point here (and in much of the text).

Also, one of the chapters (funnily enough, not this one!) is actually called "De l’Ombre à la Lumière", and I think I've let this colour my thinking - ie, confuse the issue here - especially as Darkness and Light are two very recurrent themes!

Thanks for everybody's terrific input!
cc in nyc Jan 11, 2011:
@ Carol I really like "eclipsing the light." But Sandra has a Point about the Capitals. ;-)
Sandra Mouton Jan 11, 2011:
@Marian It can't be "turn the shadow into light". That would have been "faisant de l'ombre la lumière" without the critical "à".
About this capital thing, I can see why you feel there is a reference behind the author's capitalising of Ombre and Lumière. But as I just said the French text forbids your interpretation. In addition, the author also capitalises "Amour" "Joie" and "Béatitude", so we can assume that 1) he is a capital letters maniac or 2) with all these un-French capitals, he wants to infuse his text with a general sense of spirituality.
Carol Gullidge (asker) Jan 11, 2011:
thanks for the explanation Sandra! I see where you're going, and should no doubt have used "eclipsing the light" in the above posting instead of "eclipsing the darkness"!
Sandra Mouton Jan 11, 2011:
No problem Carol ;-) By the way, IMO, you can translate into English exactly as if your source text said "Il éclipsait la Lumière et déversait des torrents d'Amour". It's just that the author apparently couldn't resist making a jeu de mots and substituted "éclipser la lumière" (which is possible) with "faire de l'ombre à la lumière" (which is, I think, impossible).
Carol Gullidge (asker) Jan 11, 2011:
@ Sandra I like the idea of "eclipsing the darkness" in the sense of being better/brighter than, but will avoid "cast a shadow" as I feel this ends up saying the opposite to what is probably intended. I think the idea generally is "brighter than bright" with not a shadow in sight!
Carol Gullidge (asker) Jan 11, 2011:
Sorry Sandra! I didn't see your explanation before posting the last message! Will now read and try to digest it - many thanks!
Carol Gullidge (asker) Jan 11, 2011:
yet more context, re "de l’Ombre à la Lumière" this expression seems to be fairly widely used, and I had understood it - perhaps incorrectly - as meaning something along the lines of "from Darkness to the Light".

If this is the case, then I'm merely looking for a plausible translation for "faisant" here. Marian's "Turning" (or something similar) seems to fit well here, but, in the light of Sandra's disagree, am I missing something?
Sandra Mouton Jan 11, 2011:
I agree with Tony "Faire de l'ombre à" means "overshadow" in a literal or figurative sense.
The meaning here is that the Christ figure is so bright that it makes the light itself seem dark, or at least dull. There is also a sort of pun with the fact that "faire de l'ombre à" means "éclipser"= "cast a shadow upon" but also "be better than".
I'll leave it to you native speakers to put in good English but Tony, you should definitely post an answer.
cc in nyc Jan 11, 2011:
another possibility, perhaps The luminosity ("plus lumineux que la lumière") cast a shadow (instead of creating shadows of other objects). This seems counter-intuitive, but after all it's an out-of-body near-death experience.

EDIT: I realize now that this is just about what Tony said, only he said it better. And yes Tony, you *should* post your suggestion, as Sandra suggests above.
Carol Gullidge (asker) Jan 11, 2011:
more context I SHOULD perhaps have mentioned that after this NDE, the protagonist was a very reformed character, ie, I suppose he had "seen the light"...
Carol Gullidge (asker) Jan 11, 2011:
Hi Tony thanks indeed for that! In this context (did I post enough...?) this is more likely to be vice versa, ie, "casting light on the darkness", which I hadn't thought of myself! Great idea!
Tony M Jan 11, 2011:
? casting a shadow on light itself?

WAY too unsure to post an answer, but 'faire de l'ombre' is often 'cast a shadow' in more literal contexts.

Proposed translations

+2
17 hrs
Selected

to outshine (the) light

OK, glowing in the peer support above I'll post my idea!
Peer comment(s):
agree Alison Sabedoria (X) : I like this best
10 hrs
agree Sandra Mouton
2 days 8 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thanks so much ormiston and everyone else for the enlightening (!) suggestions and comments! This was really hard to grade, but in the end I stuck to my decision to avoid referring to shadow, not because it isn't an accurate reflection of the intended meaning, but simply because I feel (perhaps wrongly!) that it doesn't work quite so well in EN in this context."
+4
8 mins

to turn Darkness into Light

This may be a bible reference.
2 Samuel 22:29-33

OR: he turned night into day
Note from asker:
many thanks Marian - this seems highly feasible, or at the very least, far more plausible than anything I had so far come up with!
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard
42 mins
Thanks, Phil
agree fionn : No doubt about it. The scripture reads "...the Lord turns my Darkness into Light..." so I'd stick as close to that as possible.
1 hr
Thanks, Phil
disagree Sandra Mouton : A Christlike figure could indeed be said to do that, but it isn't what the French text says here - See discussion entry
1 hr
I do see what you mean, however, why the capital letters for Ombre and Lumière if the translation is just 'overshadow' faire de l'ombre à
agree kevin lb : I clearly see the symbolism of those terms, not as a biblical reference though. You may associate those image to God as la Lumière and Jesus l'Ombre, his representation on Earth.
2 hrs
Thanks, Kevin
agree Catherine Gilsenan : Agree with fionn
19 hrs
Thanks, Catherine
agree Alison Sabedoria (X) : If keepng the link to the chapter title mentioned is important. The capitals are certainly unusual in French, and should not be dismissed lightly, but I tend to agree with Sandra's point.
1 day 14 hrs
Thanks, W/e
Something went wrong...
34 mins

he put the light in the shade

I understand 'faire l'ombre à qqn' to mean 'to overshadow someone / put someone in the shade.' The Christlike figure in the passage is described as 'brighter than light', or in other words, so bright that he put the light in the shade / overshadowed the light.

Failing that, I would be inclined to go with Marian Vieyra's suggestion as it's a rather biblical image.
Note from asker:
many thanks Joseph!
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

He cast a shadow on the light

The heavenly light that emanated from his presence was so strong that it was able to cast a show on light itself.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2011-01-11 19:09:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

sorry for the typo: the explanation should have read: "...that it was able to cast a shadow on life itself."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2011-01-11 19:13:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

My apologies for the typo: my 'Explanation' should, of course, have read: "...that it was able to cast a shadow on light itself."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2011-01-11 19:54:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I've just seen Tony M's discussion entry under the first answer: "to turn Darkness into Light". His and my fairly literal reading of the text is practically the same and I don't know why, Tony, you were so diffident about posting a separate Answer!

I also think that his and my literal reading produces a good translation in this literary context. My mother had an NDE (i.e. she was clinically dead) and her recollection of it was also much concerned with the ineffable quality of the light: "brighter, stronger than light I've ever experienced light but, at the same time, soft and gentle light that I could look straight into without any discomfort or pain."

Having read Tony's entry, I think the better version is "He cast a shadow on light itself."
Note from asker:
many thanks John for this interpretation - which bears out Tony's theory. I too wish he and/or ormiston would post an answer!
Something went wrong...
13 hrs

to be more dazzling than light itself

Perhaps this might help, Carol? It certainly translates the meaning, and it leads quite nicely on to the rest of the sentence.
Note from asker:
many thanks ACOZ - it certainly did help!
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

he flooded the shades with light

shattered the dying light
rent death's curtain



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2011-01-12 07:03:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Shades/death/hades!
I see what you mean..... potential for sunglasses!!
Note from asker:
many thanks fourth for your diverse answers! I do wonder though if you meant shadows instead of shades? (Don't know what happened to my previous "note" - it seems to have disappeared into the ether!)
Something went wrong...
+1
17 hrs

cast / put Light itself into Shadow

'outshone Light itself', as one other contributor has already suggested.

I'm heartened to see that my end-of-long-day delirium has received such corroboration from my worthy colleagues ;-)
Note from asker:
many thanks Tony, especially for coming back to this! And your early comment in the Suggestions box helped a great deal with the interpretation! This added to my dilemma when it came to grading - a pity the points can't be doubled and shared!
Peer comment(s):
agree cc in nyc : cast a Shadow on Light itself
4 hrs
Something went wrong...
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