Jumping through The Hoop

Every language contains the words it needs. The German word gemütlich has only a very inadequate translation in cosy, as has Schadenfreude in spitefulness. I always think that is because Schadenfreude (i.e. gloating at other people's bad luck) isn't one of the main states of mind of the Anglo Saxons and because they have a different understanding of what is considered gemütlich. The term Gemüt, from which gemütlich is derived, is well nigh untranslatable because English speakers don't deal in soppiness, the simple term Körung needs at least a major historical essay about the role of governmental control in every aspect of German life to become understandable, and the German word Waldsterben has found its way into the English language presumably because English speakers don't seem to worry enough about it to coin their own term.

Last week, an interesting article by the author and Islam-critic Hans-Peter Raddatz was published in the Frankfurter Neue Presse. The headline "Zwischen Dialog und Dressur" alone is a manifesto and – virtually non-translatable. How can Dressur be translated? Between Dialogue and Dressage? Hardly, because this is not about horses and riding. Between Dialogue and Training then? Even less, because the English word training is not burdened with a negative overtone, whereas Dressur (in any other than a horsey context) is. Here we are talking about the kind of training to which – say – a dancing bear is subjected or a lion until he finally jumps through a hoop. I have chosen to translate "Dressurelite" as "hoop jumping elite". I could have as well termed it "dancing bear elite". Should somebody know the correct English term I would be grateful to receive it.

When it comes to the "dialogue with Islam", apart from the headscarf there is hardly any other topic that causes the same sort of stir like the building of mosques, which are supposed to turn Germany and Europe into a "Land of Peace". Not without force, a pressure group of "advisers", "agents" and other "experts" are propagating in the name of their organisations – party, foundation, university, church, media – the message of Islamic "tolerance", which is entitled to demand "respect" from the West.

This is ensured by the Islamic side as well, who has not just oil and money as convincing arguments. As the Turkish Ditib [Turkish-Islamic Union in Germany] told the Chancellor lately, it are the Islamic representatives on whom the security of the Federal Republic is depending. No wonder that the German pro-Islam pressure group performs successfully as one of those "hoop jumping elites" who are acting in the interest of the opposite side… [This] means, in effect, that the "dialogue" demanded and sponsored in this country is not a tool for discussion, but for education of the masses.

To read the whole article go to Roncesvalles.