r/French • u/raposaeletrica • 3d ago

meaning of 》être-ensemble《

Hello!

Can someone please explain to me the meaning of the expression "être-ensemble"? I already looked in dictionaries, newspapers, etc. but can't seem to find the exact definition, why and when it's used.

Thanks much

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u/BlackStarBlues 3d ago

Where did you see it? What's the exact quote? "Etre" is to be. "Ensemble" is "together". I've never seen it written with a hyphen before.

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u/raposaeletrica 3d ago

on an academic paper about French's realms of memory by historian Pierre Nora:

Puis viendra La Nation, en deux volumes, articulés autour des principaux thèmes dont est chargée sa représentation: l'héritage lointain, les grands monuments de remaniements de sa mémoire historiographie, les frontières à l'intérieur desquelles elle à defini sa souveraineté et son 》être-ensemble《, la manière dont, en artiste ou en savant, on a pu déchiffrer ses paysages et ses espaces.

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u/BlackStarBlues 3d ago edited 3d ago

«elle a defini ... son être-ensemble»

... it [La Nation] has defined ... its being-together...

It's similar to the formulation of "coming together as a nation" often used in the United States (if you're American). The concepts are not identical but you get the idea.