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............................................Translation 1:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.
- The structure of this quote is simplistic, short and to the point. The first words is the main character's name, this allows the reader to assume who the book is about. This is the only translation that changes the original name (Gregor) given to the main character. This is significant because it dilutes some of the historical context of Metamorphosis and the fact that it was originally written in German. Like the other translations it is written in third person. The purpose of the sentence is not to allow the reader to imagine the scene with great detail, because it is not very descriptive. Unlike other translations it uses "changed" instead of "transformed" when describing what Gregor became overnight. Changed is less descriptive and leaves less of an impact. The same goes with the use of giant bug, although it makes the situation appear more comical.
Translation 2:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.
- The use of the original name reinforces the origin of the book. The word enormous is used instead of giant this makes the reader to imagine an even bigger bug. The word bug is not very descriptive as whole this sentence is still pretty vague. There is more use of pronouns this verifies that Gregor is a male. The use of troubled makes it seem as if he has something negative on his mind that he can't help dreaming about.
Translation 3:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
- This translation is more descriptive it uses the word gigantic an exaggerated version if giant. Gigantic and enormous are also very similar in meaning, it makes me wonder why they didn't use the word huge. The dictionary is slightly more formal due to the use of insect instead of bug.Interestingly enough when I compared the definitions of bug against insect, insect was found as more scientific and bug meant a small insect. This is significant because all translations reference the abnormal size he is. The use of as tells the reader that Gregor made the realization as he was waking up, not after like the use of when implies.
Translation 4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.
- - Like all of the previous translations third person is used this means that it is a significant characteristic to the plot. Also, this translation chooses to use commas unlike the others. The use of commas breaks up the structure, slows the reading speed down, and makes the reader pay more attention to the different sections. I also feel as if the commas make it seem more dramatic and enhance the imagery in your head. The use of the word agitated makes the dreams seem more negative, which adds more emphasis to them, it causes me to wonder what he dreamt about. This translation describes Gregor as a vermin, this makes the reader to imagine not an insect but a rodent, possibly a mouse. The word monstrous doesn't describe the size as much as gigantic or enormous, the word monstrous makes the reader imagine an ugly scary creature.
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Diction and syntax can make the most significant impact on the overall meaning. Word choice like insect and vermin create drastically different images in a reader's head. The use of commas and without place emphasis on different things, diction also helps emphasize things. Of all the translations, i believe the third was the most effective. It uses the word insect which is more specific than bug (which is used in translations 1&2), and seemingly more accurate than the word vermin. It also provides a nice picture in the readers mind by stating that the insect is gigantic. The other translations were either seemingly inaccurate and too descriptive, or too simplistic and undescriptive.
This exercise shows how reading translated texts can be tricky. Translators have lots of power, and incorrect assumptions can affect the tone and message of the text. We cannot truly experience a literary text that is not written in a language we are not fluent in. This is not a new concept my mothers side of the family is muslim. In muslim culture the Quran in Arabic is known as the "true Quran". Many do not consider the translations as accurate, some go as far as to say that you have not read the Quran if you have not read it in Arabic. Some words simply cannot be directly translated into other languages. For example the word Pana po'o is the act of scratching one's head in order to remember the location of a misplaced object.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/20/english-translation-words_n_4790396.html
