In one carefully written paragraph, explain one difference between the translations below.
How are we dependent on a translator's sensitivity and interpretation in reading literature? What can we safely assume about language in spite of translation? What can we not assume?
Kafka’s The Metamorphosis
Having decided on the translated version of the story's title, the translator must now grapple with the story's first sentence -- the sentence that announces, without apparent surprise, that Gregor Samsa awoke one morning to find he'd become an insect. In the boxes below you'll see how this sentence appears in the original German and in a literal (word-for-word) translation.
LITERAL As Gregor Samsa one morning from restless dreams awoke, found he himself in his bed into an enormous vermin transformed.
WILLA/EDWIN MUIR As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
J. A. UNDERWOOD Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.
STANLEY APPELBAUM When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found that he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.
JOACHIM NEUGROSCHEL One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.
STANLEY CORNGOLD When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.
IAN JOHNSON One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug.
QUESTIONS:
1. In your opinion, which translations contribute what nuances of meaning?
2. How reliant are we on the translator?
3. Should the translator merely translate for us, interpret, or match the meaning of the original?
LITERAL As Gregor Samsa one morning from restless dreams awoke, found he himself in his bed into an enormous vermin transformed.
WILLA/EDWIN MUIR As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
J. A. UNDERWOOD Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.
STANLEY APPELBAUM When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found that he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.
JOACHIM NEUGROSCHEL One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.
STANLEY CORNGOLD When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.
IAN JOHNSON One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug.
QUESTIONS:
1. In your opinion, which translations contribute what nuances of meaning?
2. How reliant are we on the translator?
3. Should the translator merely translate for us, interpret, or match the meaning of the original?
