Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

une lecture particulière de certains rapports interpersonnels

English translation:

a particular way of interpreting/reading certain interpersonal relationships

Added to glossary by Paul Jones
Aug 3, 2018 11:14
5 yrs ago
French term

une lecture particulière de certains rapports interpersonnels

Non-PRO French to English Medical Psychology
I'm translating a psychiatric report about a man who doesn't get on his with his manager. The report says that the man has "une lecture particulière de certains rapports interpersonnels", which I've translated as "an unusual way of interpreting certain interpersonal relationships". Not sure if that's an accurate translation however.

Here's the context:

Les informations sont insuffisantes pour conclure à un trouble de la personnalité avéré. Toutefois, le patient présente une sensibilité et une réactivité exagérées envers des décisions de gestion, dans son milieu de travail. La nature et l’intensité de ses réactions traduisent qu’il adopte une lecture particulière de certains rapports interpersonnels.

Here's my translation so far:

There is insufficient information to conclude that the patient has a personality disorder. However, he does seem overly sensitive to his manager’s decisions. The nature and intensity of his reactions to his manager’s decisions indicate that he has an unusual way of interpreting certain interpersonal relationships.

Discussion

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Aug 3, 2018:
Suggestion For "une sensibilité et une réactivité exagérées" howabout "overly sensitive and highly reactive" with regard to management decisions at work?
Chakib Roula Aug 3, 2018:
@asker,
Your attempt looks pretty relevant. However, you can simply say "interpreting" instead of "way of interpreting".

Proposed translations

+2
2 hrs
Selected

a particular way of interpreting/reading certain interpersonal relationships

I think that, given the context, you need to be careful to guard against the risk of over-translation or anything that is more emphatic or potentially dismissive than the source text. The problem is that "particulière" is such a slippery word, with so many alternative translations.

The preceding information: "sensibilité et une réactivité exagérées (...) La nature et l’intensité de ses réactions" might suggest a stronger term than "particular", e.g. "distinctive", "in his own way", but I'd err on the side of using the most neutral term possible and letting the reader draw their conclusions from that previous information.
Peer comment(s):

agree philgoddard : Yes, I wouldn't say "unusual".
1 hr
Thanks Phil. No, it's potentially too negative.
agree Nikki Scott-Despaigne : Neutrality is probably the order of the day.
1 hr
Thanks Nikki
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search