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Hi Hans Uwe, if you see this, I have a quick question for you or any other German speakers.
What does the word "spannungsbogen" mean? I saw this in a book and couldn't figure it out.
I regret never having learned any German, but oh, well. It seems close to English in many ways, but not a close as the Nordic languages to me for some reason.
Babel fish says it means "tension-bent." If you remember the context of the sentence around that's probably enough to figure it out. Was it refering to hair, or a physics book perhaps?
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
Hi Bragi,
The literal meaning is "arch of tension" or "arch of suspense".
One meaning is the duct of a story or a piece of music, in which suspense is first built up and then resolved towards the end.
Another usage seems to be what I'd call "Spannungsfeld", literally, "field of tension".
- An example: Computer laws refer to the fields of technology and of legal matters. Thus, they are made in the "Spannungsfeld" (some say "Spannungsbogen") of law and technology.
- Or, you might refer to the "Spannungsfeld" or to the "Spannungsbogen" between a good and democratic constitution and the evil dictatorial reality of a country.
Again another usage is in the sense of "gamut": A poem might move within the "Spannungsbogen" of sheer joy and deep sadness.
"Spannungsbogen" is not a common word. I had to ascertain possible meanings in different contexts before being able to give some answers.
Hope that helps.
Hans-Uwe
Hi, thanks for the reply, very comprehensive indeed!
Your description makes sense in a way in terms of where I saw the word. Frank Herbert used it in one of his novels. It was the description of the important discernment of the time between the decision to do a thing and the actual action of doing it. I suppose it is like drawing the bow back and deciding the proper amount of time to be spent before releasing the arrow.
In literary terms, maybe the word is the equivalent of "denouement" to describe the building of tension in a story as it can mean the 'span of tension'.
Thanks again. This was a 'want to know' thing rather than a 'had to know' thing!
Danke schön!
Bragi