Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
The Internationale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Internationale (L'Internationale in French) is a famous socialist, anarchist, communist, and democratic anthem and one of the most widely recognized songs in the world.
The Internationale became the anthem of international socialism. Its refrain is C'est la lutte finale/ Groupons-nous et demain/ L'Internationale/ Sera le genre humain. (Freely translated: "This is the final struggle/ Let us join together and tomorrow/ The Internationale/ Will be the human race.") The Internationale has been translated into most of the world's languages. Traditionally it is sung with the hand raised in a clenched fist salute. In English, the traditional workers' pronunciation is not an imitation of the French [ɛ̃tɛʀnasjɔnal(ə)], but rather [ɪntɚnæʃəˈnæli] (rhyming with "alley" or "valley"). The Internationale is sung not only by communists but also (in many countries) by socialists or social democrats. It was also a rallying song of the students and workers at the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.[1]
The original French words were written in 1870 by Eugène Pottier (1816–1887, later a member of the Paris Commune) and were originally intended to be sung to the tune of La Marseillaise. Pierre De Geyter (1848–1932) set the poem to music in 1888 and his melody became widely used soon after.
The Russian version was initially translated by Aron Kots (Arkady Yakovlevich Kots) in 1902 and printed in London in Zhizn, a Russian émigré magazine. The first Russian version consisted of three stanzas (as opposed to six stanzas in the original French lyrics) and the refrain. Later it was expanded and reworded. In 1944 the Soviet Union adopted the Hymn of the Soviet Union as its national anthem. Prior to that time, the Internationale served as the principal musical expression of allegiance to the ideals of the October Revolution and the Soviet Union. (The Internationale continued to be recognized as the official song of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.)
In Kerala State of India the song was translated in the 1950s by the legendary actor and social activist Premji for the united Communist Party of India. In the 1980s, more translations appeared, done by Sachidanandan, Mokeri Ramachandran and an unknown translator. The first two were sung by the activists of Janakeeya Samskarikavedi, an organisation connected with CPI(ML), and the third one was for the activists of Students Federation of India or SFI, the student organisation associated with CPI(M).
In George Orwell's Animal Farm, it is parodied by Beasts of England. In the movie Air Force One it is sung by Russian prisoners as the radical General Ivan Radek is released from prison. In the movie Reds, the song accompanies the October Revolution montage right before the intermission break.
Contents |
The music of the Internationale may be copyrighted in France until 2014. While the duration of copyright in France is 70 years following the death of the author, it was extended for about 5 years and 8.5 years to compensate for the First World War and the Second World War respectively; however, whether these clauses apply is a matter of current litigation.[2] In 2005, a movie producer was asked to pay €1,000 for the use of the song by the corporation administering the authors' rights.[3]
However, as the Internationale music was published in the late 19th century (before 1 July 1909) outside the U.S., it is in the public domain in the U.S.[4]
The original French lyrics are in the public domain as their author Eugène Pottier died in 1887. Translated lyrics may or may not be copyrighted depending on when and where they are made.
 |
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) |
| French lyrics | Literal English translation |
|---|---|
| First stanza | |
|
Debout, les damnés de la terre |
Arise, the wretched of the earth, |
| Second stanza | |
|
Il n'est pas de sauveurs suprêmes |
There are no supreme saviours, |
| Third stanza | |
|
L'état comprime et la loi triche |
The state represses and the law cheats, |
| Fourth stanza | |
|
Hideux dans leur apothéose |
Hideous, in their glory, |
| Fifth stanza | |
|
Les rois nous saoulaient de fumées |
The kings intoxicate us with their fumes, |
| Sixth stanza | |
|
Ouvriers, paysans, nous sommes |
Labourers, peasants, we are |
|
|
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) |
| Russian translation | Latin transliteration | Literal English translation |
|---|---|---|
| First stanza | ||
|
Вставай, проклятьем заклеймённый, Припев: |: Это есть наш последний |
|
Arise, you, branded by their curses |
| Second stanza | ||
|
Никто не даст нам избавленья: |
Nikto ne dast nam izbavlen'ya |
No one will grant us deliverance, |
| Third stanza | ||
|
Лишь мы, работники всемирной |
Lish' my, rabotniki vsemirnoy |
Only we, the workers of the world-wide |
The traditional British version of The Internationale is usually sung in three verses, while the American version, authored by Charles Hope Kerr, is sung in two.[2] The American version is sometimes sung with the phrase "the internationale", "the international soviet", or "the international union" in place of "the international working class".
The English versions are known to be notoriously difficult to sing, as the lyrics may appear sometimes forced and unnatural. British musician Billy Bragg, after talking to the American folk singer and activist Pete Seeger, agreed that the old lyrics were "archaic and unsingable". Bragg composed revised verses for the song, based on the British version. A full, six-stanza translation can be found on the Wikisource page on The Internationale.
| British/Irish Translation | Billy Bragg's Revision | American version |
|---|---|---|
| First stanza | ||
|
Arise, ye workers from your slumber, |
Stand up, all victims of oppression, |
Arise, you prisoners of starvation! |
| Second stanza | ||
|
No more deluded by reaction, |
Let no one build walls to divide us, |
We want no condescending saviors |
| Third stanza | ||
|
No saviour from on high delivers, |
And so begins the final drama, |
|
A Techno version of the anthem has been recorded by Maxx Klaxon under the title Internationale 2000, with original lyrics making references to television and soldiers in mutiny. [3] (Complete MP3 from Maxx Klaxon's website)
The Internationale is titled as Guójìgē (traditional Chinese: 國際歌; simplified Chinese: 国际歌), literally the International Song.
The most common and official Chinese version is the de facto anthem of the Communist Party of China. It was translated from the Russian version by Qu Qiubai (Chinese: 瞿秋白), a leader of the Communist Party of China in the late 1920s. His translation has transliterated the Internationale as Yīngtènàxióngnài'ěr (traditional Chinese: 英特納雄耐爾; simplified Chinese: 英特纳雄耐尔) when singing the phrase in Standard Mandarin. As he was killed by the Kuomintang in 1935, his Chinese translation is in the public domain wherever the duration of copyright is an author's lifetime plus no more than 70 years, including Chinese-speaking China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan (lifetime plus 50 years in these places), and Singapore (lifetime plus 70 years). The meaning of the Chinese lyrics translated from the Russian ones is somewhat different from the roughly corresponding French ones. See below for the lyrics and their literal English translations.
The third, fourth, and fifth French stanzas are not normally sung in Chinese. Chinese translator Shen Baoji (traditional Chinese: 沈寶基; simplified Chinese: 沈宝基, 1908-2002) has made a complete Chinese translation, published in 1957, of all six French stanzas,[5] but it is not as singable or official as Qu Qiubai's translation from Russian. Shen's translation has transliterated the Internationale as Yīngdāi'ěrnàxī'àonà'ěr (simplified Chinese: 因呆尔那西奥纳尔; traditional Chinese: 因呆爾那西奧納爾) in the stanzas, different from Qu's transliteration. As the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China grants individuals copyright for their lifetime plus 50 years, Shen's translation is expected to remain copyrighted there until the end of 2052, unlike Qu's version.
The song was a rallying anthem of the demonstrators at the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, and was repeatedly sung both while marching to the Square and within the Square.
...many hundreds of people (not only students) appeared on the street. They ran after the trucks and shouted protest slogans. A few stones were thrown. The soldiers opened fire with live ammunition. The crowd threw themselves on the ground, but quickly followed the convoy again. The more shots were fired, the more the crowd got determined and outraged. Suddenly they started singing the Internationale; they armed themselves with stones and threw them towards the soldiers. There were also a few Molotov cocktails and the last truck was set on fire.[6]
| Traditional Chinese | Simplified Chinese | Pinyin | Literal English translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| First stanza | |||
|
起來，饑寒交迫的奴隸， |
起来，饥寒交迫的奴隶， |
Qǐlái, jīhánjiāopò de núlì, |
Arise, slaves afflicted by hunger and cold, |
| Second stanza | |||
|
從來就沒有什麼救世主， |
从来就没有什么救世主， |
Cónglái jiù méiyǒu shénme jiùshìzhǔ, |
There has never been any saviour of the world, |
| Third stanza | |||
|
是誰創造了人類世界？ |
是谁创造了人类世界？ |
Shì shéi chuàngzào liǎo rénlèi shìjiè? |
Who is it that created the world of humankind? |
In addition to the Mandarin version, the Internationale also has Cantonese [4] and Taiwanese [5] versions, occasionally used in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but the word "Internationale" is not translated in either version. In the Mandarin version, the word "Internationale" is transliterated into Chinese characters but without a definite article as Chinese language does not normally use it as English does.
- The Internationale, an album by Billy Bragg featuring Bragg's rewritten lyrics to the song.
- 'The Internationale' a documentary directed by Peter Miller about the history and meaning of the song, featuring Billy Bragg, Pete Seeger, and others has recently been released.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Chapter III of Title II of Book I of the Intellectual Property Code of France and its French version.
- ^ See Report.
- ^ Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States
- ^ The inside story of the alteration of the Internationale translations in Chinese
- ^ Amnesty International, 30 August, 1989. Preliminary Findings on Killings of Unarmed Civilians, Arbitrary Arrests and Summary Executions Since 3 June 1989, p.19
- The Internationale in 82 languages
- Downloadable recordings in more than 30 languages
- (Russian) Another large collection of downloadable recordings
- Communist propaganda clip with the Internationale as background music (Albanian and Russian)
- Link to a documentary on the Internationale.
| National anthems of Russia | |
|---|---|
 |
The Prayer of Russians (1815-1833) | God Save the Tsar! (1833-1917) | Worker's Marseillaise (1917) The Internationale (1917-1922) | The Internationale (Soviet Union) (1922-1944) | Hymn of the Soviet Union (Soviet Union) (1944-1990) The Patriotic Song (1990-2000) | Hymn of the Russian Federation (2000-present) |
| State Anthems of the Soviet Union and Soviet Republics | |
|---|---|
 |
The Internationale (1922-1944) | Hymn of the Soviet Union1 (1944-1991)
Armenian SSR | Azerbaijan SSR | Byelorussian SSR | Estonian SSR | Georgian SSR | Kazakh SSR | Kyrgyz SSR | |
| Anthems of short-lived Soviet republics | |
| Karelo-Finnish SSR (1940-1956) | |