translated by María Rosich Andreu
There is a beautiful polysemy in the Dutch word liefhebber (from lief “beloved” and hebben “to have”, i.e. “to have love”). It could stand for “connoisseur”, “enthusiast” or “fan”, i.e. lover, as in kunstliefhebber “art lover”. Or it could mean “amateur” or “dilettante”, as in liefhebbersvoetbal, “non-professional football”. Yet another meaning, if archaic, is that of “lover” in a romantic sense. And so De Liefhebbers was translated to Spanish as Los entusiastas, to French as Les amateurs, and to English as, wait for it, The Making Of. What is that all about?
The thing is, all these meanings are there. There are art lovers, and also amateur artists, and “just” lovers, although their romance lasts less than a night. Even “The Making Of” is not completely made up by the English translators. A great gift for any liefhebber.
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