The rendering of "blanche manquée" in English.

[EDWIN10]

Blanche manquée is a french expression that refers to an almost white person, a very fair person or even an albino. Depending on when it is used it could be used humorously or pejoratively. I would like to know how such an expression is said in the English language. Thank you.

 

[Tdol]

It's a very sensitive area in English, so we would be more likely to avoid it.

 

[EDWIN10]

Ok, I understand. Well, I am a student in the domain of translation and Interpretation in Cameroon and in the course of translating a novel from french into English, i have come across the expression "blanche manquée", reason for which i would like to know how best, it is said in the English Language. I have been stranded for two days , reason for which i registered on this site, to see if i can get some solutions concerning the way some expressions are rendered in English.

 

[teechar]

Blanche manquée is a French expression that refers to an almost white person, a very fair person or even an albino. Depending on when it is used, it could be used humorously or pejoratively. I would like to know [STRIKE]how such[/STRIKE] if there is an equivalent expression [STRIKE]is said[/STRIKE] in the English language. Thank you.

Okay/OK, I understand. Well, I am [STRIKE]a student in the domain of[/STRIKE] studying translation and interpretation in Cameroon, and in the course of translating a novel from French into English, I have come across the expression "blanche manquée", [STRIKE]reason for which i[/STRIKE] and that's why I would like to know how best it is said in [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] English. [STRIKE]Language.[/STRIKE] I have been [STRIKE]stranded[/STRIKE] stuck for two days, [STRIKE]reason for[/STRIKE] which is why I registered on this site, to see if I can get some solutions concerning the way some expressions are rendered in English.

Can you tell us the name of the novel you're translating? Do you have a link to it?
Also, can you provide the sentence (and describe the context) in which that expression is being used?

 

[EDWIN10]

Thank you for the corrections, im at the right place.
The name of the novel is : LES COQS NE CHANTERONS PLUS by Jeanne Mbella Ngom.
She is a new author and her novel has not been published online. The events in the novel take place in Cameroon. The author through Antonia, the friend and classmate of the heroine , calls the heroine of the novel "blanche manquée" in one instance when all of them are struggling to get out of the classroom at the end of the day. The heroine herself says amazingly she is very fair in complexion where as her parents are dark skinned. This expression is just to portray the light skinned nature of the heroine and present her as one who is so fair that she would "almost have been white".
"Blanche Manquée" in this context means " a person who is so fair that the person would almost have been white" in colour.

 

[EDWIN10]

The sentence is " ne me bouscule plus blanche manquée, dit Antonia."

 

[Tdol]

How about very fair skinned?

 

[GoesStation]

In the days of legal racial segregation, some very light-skinned African-Americans lived as white people. The practice was called "passing", as in passing for white. The French blanche manquée could literally translate as "nearly white"; if a person described that way took advantage of their fair complexion to live as a white person in a segregated society, you could say they were passing for white.

This is an extremely delicate subject in the United States.

 

[EDWIN10]

okay, thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you for the corrections​. I'm [STRIKE]at[/STRIKE] in the right place.

The name of the novel is (no colon here) [STRIKE]LES COQS NE CHANTERONS PLUS[/STRIKE] Les Coqs ne Chanterons Plus by Jeanne Mbella Ngom.

She is a new author and her novel has not been published online. The events in the novel take place in Cameroon. The author, through Antonia, the friend and classmate of the heroine , calls the heroine of the novel "blanche manquée" in one instance when all of them are struggling to get out of the classroom at the end of the day. The heroine herself says amazingly she is very fair in complexion [STRIKE]where as[/STRIKE] whereas her parents are dark-skinned. This expression is just to portray the light-skinned nature of the heroine and present her as one who is so fair that she [STRIKE]would[/STRIKE] could "almost have been white".
"Blanche manquée" in this context means "a person who is so fair that the person [STRIKE]would[/STRIKE] could almost have been white". [STRIKE]in colour.[/STRIKE]

Okay, thank you.

Please see my corrections above. It's important to follow these rules of written English:

- Start every sentence with a capital letter.
- Always capitalise the word "I" (first person singular).
- End every sentence with one, appropriate punctuation mark.
- Do not put a space before a comma, full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
- Always put a space after a comma, full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
- Do not put a space after opening quotation marks or before closing quotation marks.

Don't put the titles of books in capital letters. Make them stand out from the rest of the sentence by italicising them (as I have done above) or putting them in quotes. Only the first letter of each main word (not little words) is capitalised.