help with the understanding of this french extract

[Peter En]

Hi,

I'm reading a news article about the nobel prize committee and the awards that its recipients receive: here is a problem extract for me:

 

Ils ont quelques taches dans leur histoire, comme Henry Kissinger qui mérite d’autres prix que celui de la paix, et quelques fulgurances comme ce prix de 2010 à Liu Xiaobo, le dissident chinois toujours emprisonné, dont le souvenir ressurgit alors qu’un autre Chinois, libre celui-là, reçoit le prix Nobel de littérature.

(from: http://www.rue89.com/2012/10/12/union-europeenne-un-paradoxal-prix-...)

So my take on this is:

-the writer is pointing out the committee's lack of judgement in terms of the appropriateness of some awards.

-the writer mentions that this is a "stain" on their record, e.g. the irony of awarding a promoter of war (Henry Kissinger) the award for peace (?) (qui mérite d’autres prix que celui de la paix- this is causing me problems....transliterally: other prizes other than the one for peace??- that doesn't make sense though...)

-and finally, the writer mentions other shocking cases such as the prize awared to Liu Xiaboo in literature, a chinese dissident who is incarcerated:

le dissident chinois toujours emprisonné, dont le souvenir ressurgit alors qu’un autre Chinois, libre celui-là, reçoit le prix Nobel de littérature. <- is this saying that, Liu Xiaboo's award reminds readers of yet another chinese recipient, an unmentioned one who is free?

 

I'm very confused! the "ce prix de 2010..." convinces me that Liu Xiaobo truely was the recipient of the award, with the "le dissident chinois" being just a subordinate clause used to explan who he is and his situation, yet the "dont le souvenir" brings to mind yet another chinese person who merits an award "the free one"?

-does this suggest that, Liu Xiaobo's award in literature was a mistake? an inappropriate award in consideration of what he has actually done? And furthermore, does the writer implicitly suggest that another person should have received this award and not Liu Xiaobo?

So, could somene please explain to me the exact sense of this paragraph?

 

Thanks!

[George Hunt]

I suspect this may be a badly written/constructed sentence.

In particular in   dont le souvenir ressurgit alors qu’un autre Chinois, libre celui-là, reçoit le prix Nobel de littérature   I don't think ressurgit is connected to the que after alors.

 I take dont le souvenir ressurgit  to be a standalone phrase that I would translate along the lines of "of distant memory"

Kissinger's proposed  alternative "prize" would seem to be some sort of unspecified punishment which would make logical sense , I suppose (in the author's eyes).

 

I can't say ,overall that I particularly understand (or like) this sentence .I certainly can't pick it apart logically.

 

[Peter En]

thanks george! I thought I was going crazy

[Peter En]

Hi, i thought I'd just post things into this thread from now on instead of spamming the board whenever a question arises

 

I'm having trouble understanding the part bolded and underlined:

S’y faire n’étant pas s’y plaire, il s’est aussi agi de s’en extraire. Et pour ce faire, le stage obligatoire en classe de quatrième constituait une opportunité

[George Hunt]

Another expression I didn't know or had forgotten! And it seems fairly common/basic.Apparently S’y faire just means  to get used to something  or maybe to put up with something.

And of course s’y plaire has to mean to like something.

[Peter En]

thanks!

-So would it mean roughly:

putting up with not liking something?

[George Hunt]

 Well I would have thought it meant that putting up with  wasn't (the same as actually ) liking something.

 

It reads (S’y faire n’étant pas s’y plaire)  like it should be an everyday expression butI have a feeling it isn't. 

[stu harris]

Here's my free translation:

They have a few spots on their record, such as Henry Kissinger who perhaps deserved a prize for anything but peace. But they also show flashes of brilliance, such as the 2010 award to Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Chinese dissident. He is well remembered, as is another Chinaman, this one free from prison, both laureates in literature.