Talk:What Keeps Mankind Alive?

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Translation

"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]