Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

amané

English translation:

amané

Added to glossary by Chris Hall
Sep 27, 2010 17:44
13 yrs ago
French term

Amané

French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
"On but le raki et le sarap tout en chantant l'amané de la séparation".

This is a farewell party in Istanbul (in 1930) held by factory workers for an employee departing for France. Having found no trace of the word "amané", my guess at present is that it is an onomatopoeic representation of the way their voices sound. (Unless it comes from a Turkish word, or is a spelling mistake).
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 amané
Change log

Sep 28, 2010 19:38: Chris Hall Created KOG entry

Discussion

Alison Sabedoria (X) Sep 28, 2010:
Sounds just right! =)
McCloosh (asker) Sep 28, 2010:
Thanks. Well spotted. The farewell amane. The "aman aman" of their farewell lament.
Alison Sabedoria (X) Sep 27, 2010:
Amane Can be used without the accent in English. I found this mention on Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanes
McCloosh (asker) Sep 27, 2010:
Some great answers. Many thanks. Just to add... Just to add: the factory/workshop owner, who has organised the party, is Greek.

Proposed translations

+3
9 mins
Selected

amané

Source: http://www.bellydancingvideo.com/greek-belly-dance.htm

Oftentimes, the Greek singer will feature an amané section or song, where he or she will improvise in a very Middle Eastern manner, repeating the word "Aman" which literally means "have mercy!" The amané is very similar to the Turkish gazel. It is the Turkish influence that gives its Middle Eastern influence to the Greeks' tsiftételi.

The Balkan countries were long under Turkish rule, and they brought along their music and culture, which was absorbed by the countries they occupied.

Because Greeks and Turks have not always gotten along throughout their long history, the Greek government actually censored music in the 1930's that featured Turkish and other Middle Eastern elements, such as the amané and rembetica, an underground music that was popular in the hashish dens of port cities. Even the bouzouki was looked down upon in those days. Early versions of the popular Greek bouzouki had moveable frets and were tuned with drone strings, which allowed the musicians to play exotic sounds similar to that of the Turkish saz and Lebanese buzuk.


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Note added at 12 mins (2010-09-27 17:56:39 GMT)
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If "amané" needs to be described in your translation, then I would describe it as Turkish-themed belly dancing music.
Peer comment(s):

agree SMcG (X) : Agree, but it's more a 'lament' not belly dancing music, a song that expresses sorrow or some similar emotion.
15 mins
agree M. El Kadimi : Les Grecs appellent « amané » la mélodie turque qui très souvent commence par l'exclamation répétée « aman ! aman ! ... danse d'origine slave sur une mesure à 2/4, semblable à la chora qui est d'origine roumaine
18 mins
agree Alison Sabedoria (X) : I never thought of you as a belly dancer, Chris! Aman is an expression of despair, often translated as "alas" in English. Traditionally repeated 3 times as a refrain, it crops up in the traditional Sephardic songs I know.
47 mins
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks, to all. Pity I can’t pay you in belly-dancers, just that Fedex get a little suspicious of packages that suddenly start wriggling and thrusting. There is more of this French-Greek-style stuff, but I’ll try a bit more research first"
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