using System;

using System.Linq;

using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;

public class Program

{

    public static void Main()

    {

        var result = GetTranslatedDisplayName<Test>("Name");

        Console.WriteLine(result);

    }

    public static string GetTranslatedDisplayName<TModel>(string propertyName) 

        where TModel: class {

​

        var modelType = typeof(TModel);

        var property = modelType.GetProperty(propertyName);

​

        var display = property.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DisplayAttribute), true).FirstOrDefault() as DisplayAttribute;

        if (display != null) {

            return "OK: " + display.Name;

        }

​

        return "Error: no [Display] attribute set on '{fieldName}'.";

    }

}

​

public class Test {

    [Display(Name = "foo")]

    public string Name {get; set; } 

    [Display(Name = "bar")]

    public long Id {get; set; }

}