Shooting an Elephant



Setting

Elend, Schmutz - squalor
erbärmlich, jämmerlich –miserable
Burmese(n) - Burmese (Burmans)
Vorindustriell - preindustrial
gegnerisch, feindlich – antagonistic
feindlich, ablehnend - hostile
Feindseeligkeit -hostility
sich über jmd/etw ärgern - resent sb/sth
Abneigung, Ärger, Missgunst - resentment
Unterdrückend -oppression
über jemanden dominieren/herrschen -lord it over sb
imperialistische Lehensherren - imperial overlords
jmd. Bestechen - corrupt sb
jmd. belästigen/quälen/peinigen -torment sb

"THe crowd yelled with hideous laughter. [...] In the end the sneering yellow faces of young men that met me everywhere, the insults hooted after me ehrn I was at a safe distance, got badly on my nerves."
• the atmosphere in town is tense
• it shows a local populaition hostile to foreign domination
• it shows how the narrator can be influenced by a mass feeling

narrator

imperialistischer Administrator/Überwacher/Verwaltungsleiter - imperial administrator

doppeldeutig, ungewiss, unklar -ambiguous
befangen, parteiisch, voreingenommen - biased
auf die Seite von jmd stellen/für jmd. Partei ergreifen - take sides with sb
zwischen etwas hin und hergerissen sein - be caught between sth and sth else
Schuldgefühl -sense of guilt
sich erniedrigt fühlen -feel humiliated
beschämt – ashamed
bekümmert, verzweifelt, erschüttert – distressed
wütend - enraged
jemandes Ansprüche befolgen - comply with sb's demands

Crowd

jmd. schikanieren/belästigen/drangsalieren - harass sb
jmd geringschätzen/nicht respektieren/verächtlich ...- disrespect sb
jmd geringschätzen/verachten -despise sb
desillusioniert/ernüchtert - disillusioned
aufgewühlt, verstört - agitated
Einstimmigkeit -unanimity
jdm. etw. aufdrängen -inflict sth on sb

narrator

"A sahib has got to act like a sahib, he has to appear resolute, to know his own mind and do definite things."
• sounds as if it is taken from a handbook for the ideal colonizer
• emphasizes the importance of the demonstration of power


"I had to think out my problems in utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in the East."
The self-imposed loneliness and isolation of the colonizer is the price he has to pay for the greatness of the Empire he is serving and sustaining.
"I was hated by large number of people - the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen top me."
• narrator looks back at the event from a distance of ten years
• highly emotional and seemingly honest statement
• established a personal frame for the incident

Crowd

"I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly. [...] Here was I, the white man with his gun standing in front of the unarmed native crowd."
• antagonism between colonizer and colonized is depicted
• crowd is becoming a powerful actor in the play of gradual national uprising

Elephant

Todesqualen - agony
quälend, qualvoll -agonizing
umformen/umwandeln -transform
geopfert/zum Opfer gemacht werden - victimized/to be victimized
zerstörerisch, gefährlich, enartet -rogue
Amok laufen - run amok
mitleiderregend, armselig, ergreifend, bedaurendswert - pathetic
Mitleid erregen - arouse pity

"He looked suddenly stricken, shrunken, immensley old [...]. An enourmous senility seemed to have settled upon him. One could have imagined him thousands years old."
• animal develops personal, human traits
• its meaning goes beyond that of a dying creature: the old dying Empire, that had been so valuable to some and so destructive to other.


Quelle : http://www.mindpicnic.de/cardbox/one-language-many-voices-3/

The Second Hut


Setting

Buren - Boers
Abschaffung der Sklavereiabolition of slavery - abolition of slavery
schlechte Gefühle - ill feelings
Feindlichkeit - hostility
Abneigung - dislike
Unterdrücker - oppressor
Sanktionen - sanctions
Embargo (die Unterbindung des Exports und Imports von Waren oder Rohstoffen in ein bzw. aus einem bestimmten Land) - embargo
zerschunden, beschädigt, misshandelt - battered
heruntergekommen - run-down
den Schein wahren - keep up appearances
luftleer/luftlos - airless
vergammelt - go to seed
schillernd, glanzvoll - glittering
belebend, erfrischend, kräftigend - invigorating

"The house had that brave, worn appearance of those struggling to keep up appearances. [...] Inside, good but battered furniture stood over worn places in the rugs; the piano was out of tune and the notes stuck; the silver tea things from the big narrow house in England [...] were used as ornaments, and inside were bits of paper, accounts, rubber rings, old corks."

• The Carruther's financial situation is critical.
• They hoped to live a civilized life, but they are no longer able to do so.
• > not only because they cannot afford it but also because they can no longer be bothered to make the effort.


"The room where his wife lay [...] was a place of seedy misery."
- Mrs Carruthers's room is a dark, gloomy and airless place, offering no signs of hope.

"It was a glittering blue day, with a chill edge on the air, that stirred Major Carruthers' thin blood [...] All at once, feeling the fresh air wash along his cheeks, watching the leaves shake with a ripple of gold on the trees down the slope, he felt superior to his difficulties and able to face anything."
• Outdoors, Carruthers feels invigorated.
• He experiences a sense of freedom and confidence, of being close to nature.

"His father had been killed in the Boer War, but he had never bad anything, to do with the Afrikaans people before, and his knowledge of them was hearsay, from Englishmen who had the old prejudice. [...] As for Van Heerden, he immediatley recognized his traditional enemy, and his inherited dislike was strong."
• Ill feelings deriving from the actions of the British
• the resulting hostility between the British and the Boers are still very much alive
• > being passed on from one generation to the next.

"'Dutchmen are no good', said the bossboy simply, voicing the hatred of the black man for that section of the white people he considers his most brutal oppressors"
The use of the present tense and the general term 'black man' emohasize that the injustices the native Africans experienced are still deeply-rooted in their way of thinking.

Carruthers and Van Heerden

Härte , Not , Elend - hardship
Elend, Not - misery
leiden, ertragen - suffer
Belastung, Beanspruchung - strain
sich nicht erschüttern lassen - keep a stiff upper-lip
zurückhaltend, gehemmt - restrained
schlecht ausgerüstet - ill-equipped
besorgt - apprehensive
Elend, Schmutz - squalor
robust, stabil - sturdy
männlich - virile
robust - robust
brutal - brutal
mürrisch, verdrossen - sullen
nicht viele Worte machen - a man of few words

Mrs Carruthers and Mrs Van Heerden

die Hoffnung aufgeben - give up hope
im Stillen leiden - suffer in silence
ausschließen - shut out
abgenutzt, verschlissen, verbraucht - worn-out
vorwurfsvoll - reproachful
fettleibig, beleibt - obese
stoisch - stoical
Gleichmut - stoicism
The Children

Unterworfen - subdued
Ängstlich - anxious
zurückhaltend, schüchtern - shy
blond - fair-haired
verspielt – playful


Quelle : http://www.mindpicnic.de/cardbox/one-lan...y-voices-4-the/

The Force of Circumstances


eine gewisse Stimmung hervorheben - emphasize a certain mood

eine Atmosphäre von ... transportieren/übermitteln- convey an atmosphere of

nostalgisch- nostalgic

traurig - sad

aufgewühlt, beunruhigt - troubled

Vorahnung- foreboding

fremdartig- exotic

üppig, überschwänglich- exuberant

tropisch- tropical

Angst vor dem Unbekannten - fear of the unknown

Doris

Geschlechterrollen - gender roles

sittsam, ordentlich, schicklich - decent

ans Haus gebunden - confined to the home

das Haus verschönen - embellish the home

(nicht) aussichtsreiche Ausblicke - (un)promising outlook

unglücklich, elend - miserable

verzweifelt - desperate

ruhig - calm

körperlicher Kontakt - physical contact

Abscheu - abhorrence

Guy

Sinn für Humor - sense of humour

ironische Untertreibung - ironic understatement


fröhlich - cheerful

laut - noisy

unordentlich - untidy

mit einer Eingeborenen sexuell verkehren - goning native

männliche Überlegenheit - male dominance

ausbeuterisch - exploitative

unverantwortlich - irresponsible

grausam - cruel

unehrlich - dishonest

the Malay woman

unterlegen - inferior

äußerlich schön - physical beauty

anziehend - attractive

sinnlich - sensuous

Blick - gaze

stumm - mute

kraftvoll - powerful

böse, unheimlich - sinister

betrügerisch, verstohlen - surreptitious



http://www.mindpicnic.de/course/english-breakfast/all/

An Outpost of Progress

die Ausbeutung -exploitation
das Elfenbein - ivory
Stoßzähne - tusks
brutale/grausame Behandlung-brutal treatment
Unterdrückung, Schinderei- oppression
Unmenschlich -inhumane
Gewalttaten, Gräueltaten, Schreckenstat -atrocities
Hof -courtyard
Anlage, Gelände - compound
die Kontaktzone - contact zone
der Handel - bargain
als Entschädigung für - in exchange for sth.
die Wildnis - wilderness
gewaltige Wälder - immense forests
undurchdringbar - impenetrable
bedrohlich - menacing
quälend, tief bewegend, eindringlich - haunting
bedrückend / unterdrückend, gewaltsam - oppressive
zerstörerische Kraft - destructive force

Kayerts and Carlier

materielle Besserstellung - material betterment
etwas gemeinsam haben - having sth. in common
für jemanden sorgen - provide sth. for sb.
abhängig von jmd./etw. - dependent on sb/sth
blind - blind
unfähig - incapable
schlecht ausgerüstet - ill-equipped
unbeholfen - inept
geistige Veranlagung - mental disposition
seine/ihre Skrupel überwinden - overcome his/their scrubles
moralisch korrupt - morally corrupt
verderben/abgleiten physisch/mental - deteriorate physically/mentally

Makola

ambivalent - ambivalent
bedrohlich - menacing
effektiv - effective
zwischen jemanden und jemand anderen verhandeln für seinen eigenen Vorteil - negotiate between sb. and sb. else for his own benefit
akkurat und ordentlich - neat and tidy
zivilisiert - civilized
abergläubisch - superstitious

the natives

eingeboren - indigenous
fremdartig - exotic
unzivilisert, primitiv, grausam, wild - savage
primitiv - primitive
väterlich - paternal
kindisch - child-like
wild/kämpferisch aussehend - fierce-looking

Kämpfer, Krieger - warriors
Opfer - victims
Entwurzelt - uprooted
Vertrieben - displaced
befremdet, entfremdet – aliented

The Outpost? consits of:
Makola's hut, the storehouse, the agents' house with a veranda and reed roof, the grave of former agent, the jetty granting access from the river.
Between: courtyard/compound

The Outpost? The courtyard/compound:

• a significant place of action
• where trading takes place
• communication/exchange between different groups, races, cultures occur
• two white men keep disance from this area

The Outpost? description of wilderness

• corresponds to the sensations experienced by the protagonists
• expressionist language
• > fear, mystery, nightmares, revealing inner anxieties

The Outpost?

"In it [the grave]", under a tall cross much out of the perpendicular, slept the man who had seen the beginning of all this"
• neglected grave of the former head of the station
• foreshadows the ruin of the new inhabitants.

The Outpost?
"And streching away in all directions, surrounding the insignificant clared spot of the trading post, immense forests, hiding fateful complications of fantastic life, lay in the eloquent silence of mute greatness"
• line of distinction between 'civilization' and 'the jungle'
• jungle: threatening and awe-inspiring
• figurative and expressionist language
• > oxymorom: 'eloquent silence'
• > personification of abstracts: 'process was calling'


The Outpost?
"Those warriors would squat in long rows, four or more deep, before the veranda, while their chiefs bargained for hours with Makola over an elephant tusk. Kayerts sat on his chair and looked down on the proceedings, undarstanding nothing"

• compound becomes a contact zone, social place where various interests, cultures, races meet
• colonial hierarchy is maintained
• > ignorant colonizers looking down on the natives