Talk:What Keeps Mankind Alive?

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Translation[edit]

"Der Mensch lebt nur von Missetat allein!" "Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts."

Blitztein's translation is noted for following the sounds, rhythm, rhyme, and scansion, more than meaning. It's a disservice to the song and to Brecht to pretend that "bestial acts" is what he meant by "Missestat". This is the same translator who called Macheath's favored murder weapon "just a jacknife", and called a heavily armed warship a "freighter"; mostly because of the sounds of the words, rather than their meanings. Mankind is kept alive solely by misdeeds. That's much closer to the actual meaning. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.19.201.169 (talk) 22:25, 26 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

FWIW, "bestial acts" is not Blitzstein, it's from the Manheim/Willett translation, which is certainly closer to the spirit of Brecht's writing than Blitzstein, though not literal on this phrase. - Jmabel | Talk 00:15, 5 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]