Uses of bad translation #17: sensationalist reporting

The English-language press is all abuzz right now with scandalous headlines out of Austria:

Far-right Austrian leader Joerg Haider was my gay lover, reveals his successor

Haider's deputy reveals gay affair

Leader says Haider was his lover

Ooh,  how very exciting and shocking.  Apparently Haider's deputy and designated successor Stefan Petzner told an Austrian radio interviewer that Jörg Haider  (the most charismatic of Europe's extreme right politicians, who accidentally killed himself in a car crash a week ago)  was "the man of my life".

Naturally I turned immediately to the German-language press,  expecting it to be absolutely overflowing with feverish coverage of such a salacious tale.  Strangely enough however I could hardly find anything.  The German press,  if they mentioned it at all,  treated it as a very minor aspect of the larger Haider-death-and-aftermath story  -  a typical example is this article in Der Tagesspiegel,  which mentions Petzner's remarks in a couple of paragraphs right at the end,  calling them "supposedly homoerotic statements"  (angeblich homoerotische Äußerungen).

Huh??  Saying that Haider was "the man of my life" is a bit more than "supposedly homoerotic",  I would have thought.  What gives?

Bad translation,  that's what.

Turns out that what Petzner actually said was that Haider was his "Lebensmensch".  Lots of high-ranking figures in Haider's party have been using this term to refer to their dearly departed leader,  and while there is speculation about the homoerotic bonds between Haider and his circle of young male adjutants,  they were not likely to have all been his lover.  Petzner probably was,  but it's not the words he used which revealed it so much as his tearful and emotional behaviour in general.  He was in fact at pains to avoid saying anything unequivocal about the precise nature of his relationship with Haider,  and the Austrian media is still too constrained by notions of decency to have hounded him about it.  (The fact that Haider had a male lover was in itself not shocking because rumours about his sexuality have apparently been quietly circulating in Austria for a decade  -  exciting little interest because the homosexual minority was one of the few Haider did not attack,  and no one else was very concerned about it,  apparently not even his wife.)

So what does Lebensmensch really mean?  Interestingly, many Germans themselves seem to be unclear on this point,  as the word is quite obscure.  In the way it was used in Haider's circle,  it has at least two dimensions:  it can mean someone who plays a vital role in your life,  and it can refer to a life partner,  i.e.  a person with whom you share your life,  either as a very close friend or as a lover.  So quite a lot of room for ambiguity there,  and the words Petzner used were certainly not tantamount to declaring that you've been shagging the guy for years.

This is even clearer when you listen to the interview that the reports all refer to.  The relevant bit comes about 8 mins in  (just after 25:40 on the site's countdown clock).  The interviewer says that Petzner said at a press conference that Haider was  "so important for you,  a Lebensmensch,  and  -  in your words  -  'I loved him'.  How would you describe this relationship between you?  Everyone has the feeling that this was quite a special relationship".  You can see where she's going with that,  but she's not so rude as to be completely direct about it,  and he isn't going to be either.  Note also the use of the indefinite article with Lebensmensch:  she allows the interpretation that Haider was potentially just one of many important people in Petzner's life.  He then says that he got "Lebensmensch" from Haider,  that Haider had often said to him  "you are my Lebensmensch"  and that  "he and I know what is meant by that and that should remain just between the two of us"  ("er und ich wissen, was damit gemeint ist und das soll auch zwischen uns bleiben").

That's as explicit as it gets.  Barely enough to raise an eyebrow.  But it's nothing bad translation can't fix.