Graphic Novel as another Translation

Let's think about Peter Kuper's Graphic Novel of Kafka's Metamorphosis as another translation.

ORIGINAL Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.

LITERAL As Gregor Samsa one morning from restless dreams awoke, found he himself in his bed into an enormous vermin transformed.

Now let's look at four translators' versions of this sentence:

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.

When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. (trans. Stanley Corngold)

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. (trans. Ian Johnson)

Ask these questions of the artwork:

1. Is Peter Kuper giving us a literal translation of Kafka's text? Or is Kuper interpreting the text for us in his own way?  (Give details from several panels to support your point.)

2. Graphic Novels exaggerate features to make a dramatic visual impact. Do readers have to learn to read these exaggerations in order to understand them? What was your learning curve for reading?

3. Which panels particularly capture a dramatic moment in ways that the novel did not? What is added to your understanding of the novel? Give details to support your ideas.

4. Which panels misrepresent the novel in ways that bother you? Explain by giving details from the novel and the images.

5. Should we read the graphic novel before or after the novel? Instead of? Not at all? Explain your reasoning.

6. Write a short blog post about your best ideas.