Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
bon maître
English translation:
academic establishment
Added to glossary by
mill2
Jul 11, 2013 14:31
10 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term
bon maître
French to English
Social Sciences
History
From an academic article on the historiography of climate change. It seems clear to me what the author means - the conservative old guard in the universities who attacked new ideas. But how can I render this in English? "Good teachers" certainly won't do it. Thanks for your suggestions.
Un tel sujet néanmoins, en règle générale, était évité par mes collègues, jeunes ou moins jeunes : ce sujet était considéré comme trop dangereux en effet et susceptible d’être lardé de critiques parfois cruelles de la part des *bons maîtres* et de ce qu’on appelait plus généralement de manière injuste la Sorbonne, entité d’autant plus redoutable qu’elle était mal définie pour la circonstance.
Un tel sujet néanmoins, en règle générale, était évité par mes collègues, jeunes ou moins jeunes : ce sujet était considéré comme trop dangereux en effet et susceptible d’être lardé de critiques parfois cruelles de la part des *bons maîtres* et de ce qu’on appelait plus généralement de manière injuste la Sorbonne, entité d’autant plus redoutable qu’elle était mal définie pour la circonstance.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+2
2 hrs
Selected
academic establishment
A term used for academics with reputations, institutional power and positions to protect by resisting new ideas.
blogs.scientificamerican.com/.../dear-guardian-youve-been-play...
by Jennifer Ouellette -
" .... a hidebound academic “establishment” not open to new ideas, ..."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_Venus_(Cabanel)
" ... it is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. ... the refusal of the academic establishment to realize the importance of new ideas ... "
blogs.scientificamerican.com/.../dear-guardian-youve-been-play...
by Jennifer Ouellette -
" .... a hidebound academic “establishment” not open to new ideas, ..."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_Venus_(Cabanel)
" ... it is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. ... the refusal of the academic establishment to realize the importance of new ideas ... "
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks very much for all the suggestions, I ended up going with this one."
1 hr
the establishment
as an alternative to Lara's suggestion
1 hr
the rearguard
Playing off your description of "the conservative old guard"
Definition of rearguard in English:
a defensive or conservative element in an organization or community
http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english...
Definition of rearguard in English:
a defensive or conservative element in an organization or community
http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english...
1 hr
Josephine Cassar
Malta
Malta
Native in English
Malta
12 yrs. experience translating EU stuff
Native in: English (Variants: UK, British) 
, Maltese
Works in: English to Maltese, Italian to Maltese, French to Maltese, and 3 more.
(highly)experienced teachers
as your text suggests- as always happens- that the young and not-so-young were afraid to broach such a topic because the most experienced, those that had been the 'oldies' would put them down, rubbish their views
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Note added at 2 hrs (2013-07-11 17:12:00 GMT)
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academics, rather as text mentions La Sorbonne- resist change
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Note added at 2 hrs (2013-07-11 17:12:00 GMT)
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academics, rather as text mentions La Sorbonne- resist change
+3
27 mins
Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
Works in field
United Kingdom
www.lingocraft.co.uk
Native in: English (Variants: Irish, Singaporean, UK, South African, British, Scottish) 
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Romanian to English, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
8
Old School
I don't think there is a literal translation that would work. So I would just go with the time old idiom "old school".
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Note added at 28 mins (2013-07-11 14:59:52 GMT)
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Or perhaps "Followers of the old school".
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Note added at 3 hrs (2013-07-11 18:05:54 GMT)
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"Old school and old-fashioned': historians turn their fire on Gove"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/feb/16/historians-go...
"Old School, New School - Two generations, two perspectives"
http://chronicle.com/blogs/old-new/date/2011/07
"Old School Still Matters: Lessons from History to Reform Public Education in America (Book contract with ABC-CLIO--a Praeger imprint)."
http://www.ipfw.edu/departments/cepp/depts/public-policy/abo...
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Note added at 28 mins (2013-07-11 14:59:52 GMT)
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Or perhaps "Followers of the old school".
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Note added at 3 hrs (2013-07-11 18:05:54 GMT)
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"Old school and old-fashioned': historians turn their fire on Gove"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/feb/16/historians-go...
"Old School, New School - Two generations, two perspectives"
http://chronicle.com/blogs/old-new/date/2011/07
"Old School Still Matters: Lessons from History to Reform Public Education in America (Book contract with ABC-CLIO--a Praeger imprint)."
http://www.ipfw.edu/departments/cepp/depts/public-policy/abo...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
philgoddard
35 mins
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Thank you.
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| agree |
Verginia Ophof
1 hr
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Thank you.
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| neutral |
Sheri P
: For me, this term conjures up something positive, though I know it can be used pejoratively, too."Anything that is from an earlier era and looked upon with high regard or respect" http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=old school
3 hrs
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| agree |
Kévin Bernier
: old fashioned teachers
3 hrs
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Thank you.
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| neutral |
emiledgar
: Old School is very very very often a positive expression
18 hrs
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1 day 2 hrs
Wolf Draeger
South Africa
South Africa
Native in English
Specializes in field
South Africa
Related KudoZ points
:
3
top/leading scholar/professor
I can't really see any irony in the way the term is being used in the extract provided; perhaps the broader context makes it clearer. But based on what we have, I would say it simply refers to the university's top, or most respected, scholars. That's not necessarily the same thing as the old guard or conservative establishment.
Refs. are just two e.g. of how the term has been used; not decisive, of course.
Refs. are just two e.g. of how the term has been used; not decisive, of course.
Reference:
http://www.icem-pedagogie-freinet.org/sites/default/files/194_chronique_0.pdf
http://prdchroniques.blog.lemonde.fr/2010/06/15/jerome-kerviel-un-si-bon-maitre/
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
B D Finch
: Worth at least posing the question of who rates them as "top" and "most respected". There can often be a cycle with bright young academics becoming old reactionaries after achieving elevated professorships and feeling threatened by new bright young things
13 mins
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Good point; tks BD.
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