French Translation Competition 2024
We are delighted to announce the 2024 University of Sheffield French Translation Competition for Year 12 and Year 13 students!
Thank you for your entries. This competition is now closed.
About the competition
Students of French in Years 12 and 13 in the UK are invited to submit their translation into English of the original short French text below.
About the Text
Grégoire Bouillier, Le syndrome de l’Orangerie (Flammarion, 2024)
On seeing for the first time Claude Monet’s monumental work, Les Nymphéas, at the Orangerie, Grégoire Bouillier is suddenly and profoundly perturbed. Unable to explain this disquieting experience to himself, in the guise of his detective alter-ego, Bmore, he sets off to investigate what triggered his malaise and whatever dark secrets Monet’s work might conceal… The novel is shortlisted for this year’s Prix du Roman Fnac.
For a short presentation in French (no subtitles, 3 mins) of the book by Grégoire Bouillier, see here.
The source text itself looks deceptively simple at first glance (like Monet’s Waterlilies?) but the translator has to pay particular attention to register, idiom, ‘voice’.
Text to Translate
C’est drôle.
Ou ce n’est pas drôle.
Mais l’autre jour, je suis allé au musée de l’Orangerie.
(C’était il y a pile une semaine.)
C’était la première fois que j’allais voir les Nymphéas de Claude Monet.
(Il faut un début à tout.)
Cela ne s’était jamais trouvé auparavant.
Jamais je n’avais vu les Grands Panneaux de l’Orangerie.
Vu de mes yeux vu.
Et il s’est passé un truc bizarre.
J’ai été pris de vertige, d’angoisse.
Je me suis senti terriblement oppressé.
Cela a été immédiat.
Tout juste si je n’ai pas fait un malaise.
Ce n’était pas du tout prévu.
Ce n’était pas ce à quoi je m’attendais.
Surtout concernant les Nymphéas de Claude Monet.
Ce n’est qu’une fois sorti de l’Orangerie, une fois dans la rue et à l’air libre, une fois loin des Nymphéas de Monet, que j’ai commencé à me sentir mieux. Voici que je respirais de nouveau normalement.
J’étais redevenu léger.
Preuve que si mon angoisse disait quelque chose de moi, elle disait aussi quelque chose des Nymphéas, puisqu’ils en étaient la cause.
Disait quoi ?
D’où cette angoisse ?
Quel lien avec les Nymphéas ?
Que cachaient ceux-ci d’angoissant, s’ils cachaient quelque chose d’angoissant ?
Était-ce lié à mes examens médicaux ?
Car je ne cherche à convaincre personne : je témoigne simplement d’un choc pictural qui m’a moi-même surpris, au point d’aggraver le malaise que j’avais ressenti en me le rendant parfaitement incompréhensible.
Que s’était-il passé lors de ma visite à l’Orangerie ?
Qu’avais-je vu ?
The prize
The authors of the ten best entries will be invited to take part in a special Translation Workshop organized by the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Sheffield, involving academics from the School, MA students in Translation Studies and alumni who work in translation-related fields. The workshop will be held online in January 2025 (date to be confirmed). The authors of the three best entries will additionally each receive a prize of a £25 Amazon voucher.
The judges
The translations will be read and judged by a panel of experts from the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Sheffield.
How to enter
Please translate the text above into English. Please also append a brief note in English (roughly 100 words) describing how you dealt with a particularly intriguing challenge as you translated the text. This note will not be assessed, but we will post a selection of the most illuminating comments anonymously on this website after the winners are announced.
Entries must be submitted via the Competition Entry Form. You must complete the form and upload your entry via the link on the form or your entry may not be considered. Entries must be uploaded no later than 11:59pm GMT on Friday 29 November 2024.
Translations must be the original work of individual students. Only one entry per student is permitted.
Winners will be notified by Monday 16 December 2024.
A fair copy of the translation, based on the best entries, will be available on this website in January 2025. We regret that we cannot provide feedback on individual entries.
Bonne chance !
International scholarships
We offer a generous package of financial support for international students, including undergraduate and postgraduate taught scholarships worth £10,000 towards the annual tuition fee.
Applications are open for existing offer holders for programmes starting in autumn 2025.