Queen

13:48 Jul 17, 2021

This question was closed without grading. Reason: Answer found elsewhere

English to French translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / LGBT vocabulary, californian slang early 70's

English term or phrase: Queen

Abernathy’s hand trembled. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the ordeal as he brought the still-wet amphibian up to his mouth. He stood there hesitating for over a minute, as the thought of actually kissing the repugnant creature paralyzed him. Was his virility really worth this?
“Come on, bubee,” said the frog. “I haven’t got all day.”
He slowly brought it closer to his mouth, his entire body trembling with revulsion all the while. His stomach wanted to heave as he felt the slimy, damp skin of the frog against his lips. But then there was a flash of light that he could make out even through his closed eyelids, and suddenly the lips that were kissing his were distinctly human. Two naked arms circled him, holding him tightly to the other’s chest.
But something felt wrong. Abernathy opened his eyes again. The face in front of his was quite beautiful, although the water had smeared its mascara and one false eyelash was missing. The chest was very flat, and as his eyes continued down the body….
He jumped back. “You’re not a princess!”
“Damned right, sweetie,” said the changeling in a husky voice. “I’m a queen!”
Abernathy tried to get away, but the other grabbed his shoulder. “What’s your hurry?” the queen asked. “We’ve got a lot to talk about. You’ve got a great pair of lips, you know that?”
“I have to go,” Abernathy tried to excuse himself. “An appointment with my phrenologist. You understand.”
“We could really go great together, baby, you dig? I’ve got twelve inches, wanta see?”
“No.”
“And with those lips of yours….”

L'auteur revisite les contes de Grimm de façon grivoise, la nouvelle d'où est tiré cet extrait fut publié la première fois dans un magasine pour adulte.
Merci de ne pas répondre que queen signifie reine, je sais.
Mon souci est de rendre perceptible l'ambiguïté au premier coup d'œil.
Le texte fut écrit en anglais californien en 1972, il ne faut donc pas non plus un terme trop récent

marlene Le Duc (X) KudoZ activity Questions: 21 (none open) (5 closed without grading) Answers: 8 France
Local time: 13:15

Summary of answers provided

Mais... je peux devenir ta reine !

Electra Koutsivitis

2 +1

une tante

Claude-André Assian

Discussion entries: 6

marlene Le Duc (X)

France

ASKER

11:29 Jul 18, 2021

Je pense avoir trouvé la solution :

"Absolument vrai, mon chou," répondit le transformiste d'une voix rauque. "Je suis une reine"

l'utilisation du terme "transformiste" convient à la métamorphose de l'état de grenouille à celle d'être humain, mais également à l'ambiguïté de la situation.

Samuël Buysschaert

France

17:12 Jul 17, 2021

Je suis d'accord avec Tony, le seul terme qui pourrait être lié avec un titre comme princesse/reine serait "chevalier de la rosette" mais on perd la relation princess-queen.
C'est mon avis, mais si par exemple on traduit "sweetie" par "mon chou" alors le terme "reine" prend son sens et est compréhensible par le lecteur.
Le travestissement étant existant depuis longtemps comme par ex dans le théâtre, je pense que "reine" convient, le contexte suivant suffit à dissiper les doutes subsistants si une personne n'aurait pas appréhendé le terme.

marlene Le Duc (X)

France

ASKER

about the term drag-queen

15:06 Jul 17, 2021

I found this on internet : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dorsey_Swann
but this doesn't solve my problem.

Do you think that if I leave Reine, as it is in the original , it will be clear for the reader ?

marlene Le Duc (X)

France

ASKER

about the term drag-queen

14:52 Jul 17, 2021

marlene Le Duc (X)

France

ASKER

@ Tony

14:26 Jul 17, 2021

in the story the hero has been deprived of his virility by a curse from an old crazy witch. In order to recover, he must kiss a princess who has been changed in a frog.
When he saw this one, she "had a curly blonde wig, false eyelashes, mascara and a tiny golden crown on its head.; all the atribute of a Drag-queen.
So I need to keep the game between princess/queen, with the knowlegde that in the early 70's the term "dragqueen" didn't exist in France, and I am not even sure that it did exist in california (apart from San Francisco, maybe, but the author is from L.A.)

Tony M

France

@ Asker

14:15 Jul 17, 2021

The hug problem here is that the VITAL play on words here (princess vs. queen) simply doesn't work with any of the non-royal FR equivalents like tarlouze, tafiote, tant, etc. — we need a word that is EVEN MORE FABULOUS than 'just' a princess!
I don't know if by re-wording you could somehow make use of the distinction between Altesse and Majesté?

Answers

20 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

queen une tante

Explanation:
juste une suggestion

Claude-André Assian
Local time: 13:15
Native speaker of:

French

Notes to answerer

Asker: mon héros est victime d'un sortilège qui le prive de sa prive de sa virilité. Pour conjurer ce sort, il doit embrasser une princesse qui a été transformée en grenouille. La grenouille qu'il a embrassé avait une couronne, une perruque blonde et des faux-cils (tous les attributs de la drag-queen). Je ne suis pas convaincue par votre proposition, merci quand même

1 day 4 hrs confidence:

I’m a queen! Mais... je peux devenir ta reine !

Explanation:
En ajoutant un "ta", ça donne un sous-entendu graveleux qui pourrait faire l'affaire ?
Je pourrais être ta reine, je peux devenir ta reine, etc
Bonne chance :)

Electra Koutsivitis
Greece
Local time: 14:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

French,

Greek

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