Pls,could you decipher this for me?
Hi,all.

Could anyone of you decipher these expressions for me?

"As we approach 1990 the specialist press,and its ever faster communication and archiving of information,reveals that it was in fact the very concept of newness,or better still its generational equivalent,youth,that constituted the point of reference,the HOOK for the categorization of artistic events.An issue of Flash Art published at the end of 1990 entitled Speciale Arte Giovane INAUGURATED the passage in real time from current affairs to history while their RECIPROCAL SUPERIMPOSITION testifies to the anxiety characterizing the activity to history,above all in Italy,in second five-year period:the desire to acknowledge the multiplicity of events in progress,their modifications,attempts at constructing an analysis,frequently with SOCIOLOGICAL SLANT so that the economic and social changes of the period could be recognized in the arts.What in reality emerges is that during the five-year in question art was subjected to a process of fragmentation,of gerneralized poor visibility,of difficult DISCERNIBILITY among the various artistic opinions."

In your opinion,what do "the hook,Inaugurate from current affairs to history,
reciprocal superimposition,sociological slant,
discernibility" mean here?

Many many thanks in advance!Thanks a lot,all of you!
This is one essay in an English anthology on Italian contemporary art.Yes,I knew,most of these I have listed are technical terms.I have contemplated for days and still work out no result ...

Here's the first paragraph:
"It has already been written in more than one publication that the decade from 1985 to 1995 was in reality composed of at least two five year-periods,with the watershed year not unreasonably being seen as 1990,if for no other reason than the fact that it marked the redefinition of international politics following the fall of the Berlin Wall.From a purely chronological point of view,the matter minght be considered resolved were it not for the fact that within each of these two five-year periods diverse and more fluid temporal sequences can be identified.With regard to the first period,the year 1987 at least has to be highlighted as marking the arrival of an artistically new phenomenon,new at least for Milan,the city that was the driving force of those years.
..."No,no,I have not made any modifications,as a matter of fact...

Question

Pls,could you decipher this for me?
Hi,all.

Could anyone of you decipher these expressions for me?

"As we approach 1990 the specialist press,and its ever faster communication and archiving of information,reveals that it was in fact the very concept of newness,or better still its generational equivalent,youth,that constituted the point of reference,the HOOK for the categorization of artistic events.An issue of Flash Art published at the end of 1990 entitled Speciale Arte Giovane INAUGURATED the passage in real time from current affairs to history while their RECIPROCAL SUPERIMPOSITION testifies to the anxiety characterizing the activity to history,above all in Italy,in second five-year period:the desire to acknowledge the multiplicity of events in progress,their modifications,attempts at constructing an analysis,frequently with SOCIOLOGICAL SLANT so that the economic and social changes of the period could be recognized in the arts.What in reality emerges is that during the five-year in question art was subjected to a process of fragmentation,of gerneralized poor visibility,of difficult DISCERNIBILITY among the various artistic opinions."

In your opinion,what do "the hook,Inaugurate from current affairs to history,
reciprocal superimposition,sociological slant,
discernibility" mean here?

Many many thanks in advance!Thanks a lot,all of you!
This is one essay in an English anthology on Italian contemporary art.Yes,I knew,most of these I have listed are technical terms.I have contemplated for days and still work out no result ...

Here's the first paragraph:
"It has already been written in more than one publication that the decade from 1985 to 1995 was in reality composed of at least two five year-periods,with the watershed year not unreasonably being seen as 1990,if for no other reason than the fact that it marked the redefinition of international politics following the fall of the Berlin Wall.From a purely chronological point of view,the matter minght be considered resolved were it not for the fact that within each of these two five-year periods diverse and more fluid temporal sequences can be identified.With regard to the first period,the year 1987 at least has to be highlighted as marking the arrival of an artistically new phenomenon,new at least for Milan,the city that was the driving force of those years.
..."No,no,I have not made any modifications,as a matter of fact...

Answer

Hello Estella ,
Could you refer to the whole article where you read this or is it a personal translation ?
It might be translated from another language using some of the terms inappropriately which needs to be modified for a clearer communication of the statement.
It is not difficult to discern those terms detached from any contextual setting.
Both fdmaxey and Andres did well explaining  the terms separately but the linkage between them for a comprehensible context remains vague.  I hope someone manages to  explain the whole context and as you call it "decipher" and rather rewrite the text with modified terms. All I understood is that:
There is a conflict between the current works of art * current for that 5 year period* set and presented in a socially adjusted reproduction and the historical works ,both trying to overrun the art scene while in fact leading to discords and lessening the degree of clearness in appreciating and evaluating the artistic performances by art critics.

Answer

Truthfully if your reading things like this, i wouldnt worry about learning it.
This is far beyond anyone just trying to learn a language should ever read. This is Political strength knowledge, or Senior Year of College level reading. Not to say it can't be understood, but i would not read such difficult things.

I don't want to make you or myself sound dumb by not reading this, but i wouldn't bother for a while.

Answer

Mia povera Estella !
Ti sei trovata con un pezzo veramente ostico.
Vediamo:
Innanzitutto, non c'è correlazione tra "hook" e le altre parole a cui tu fai riferimento..Questo deve essere chiaro.
Il modo in cui tu le elenchi può confondere.  
The hook ( il gancio) viene definito nello stesso paragrafo: "the point of reference" (il punto di riferimento) per la categorizzazione di eventi artistici dati.  Quando nel scrivere utilizziamo la risorsa di elencare aggettivi o sintagmi aggettivali separati da una virgola, normalmente ciò vuole dire che sono sinonimi molto vicini. Ad esempio " la notte era oscura, tenebrosa", " erano amici per la pelle, inseparabili." 
"slant" vuol dire : "To present so as to conform to a particular bias or appeal to a certain audience", cioè, spiegare l'arte da un punto di vista sociologico, interpretandola alla luce della sociologia.
Per quanto riguarda alle altre parole, non trovo nessuna che tu non possa tradurre con l'aiuto di un dizionario on-line.
Peraltro, l'apporto  dell'amico fdmaxey e da tenere in considerazione.

Answer

This is one of the most obsure passages I've ever seen.  The author seems to be purposely trying to confuse the reader.  However, let's give this a try:
The hook probably denotes some common reference point accepted and used by different groups.
"Inaugurate from current affairs to history" means that by some formal announcement or ceremony, someone is now considering some event or events as history, as opposed to current events.  Usually it is hard to say when a "current event" becomes history.  They are saying here that that happened somewhat formally.
Superimposition is the laying over of something over something else ("superimposing an explanation on an event").  Reciprocal says that two parties or entities were doing this to each other.
"Socialogical slant" means that this is being described or explained from the view of a socialogist, using their terms.
"Discernability" means the ability to recognize a phenomenon or pattern.
I'm probably wrong on at least a couple of these, but it's a start.  If anyone wants to tear my explanations apart, go ahead.

Answers · 4

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