Some Bug Dude

Kafka's The Metamorphosis was originally written in German, and like Camus' The Stranger the work was translated from its original language to English in various different ways.  Each translator does slightly different literary things to the text to make it their own and this often impacts what the reader takes away from any given sentence.  Below are 4 translations of the original line

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

#1:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.
- In this sentence there is an emphasis on the "giant bug" portion.  This lacks his opinion towards this transformation, thus it could be inferred that he might like the change.  The syntax of this sentence is extremely basic as it is in the simple past tense.  This coupled with the lack of imagery results in an objective tone.  Also, this translator made the choice to structure the sentence with "one morning" directly in the center of the sentence.  The fact that he woke up in the morning lacks importance because it gets lost within the rest of the sentence.

#2:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

- In this rendition of the original line the translator chose to use the phrases "troubled dreams" and "enormous bug".  Much like the translation above the opinion on being an "enormous bug" is unknown.  However, the choice of "enormous" is more impactful than "giant", which results in the reader thinking more about the size this man has become.  The "troubled dreams" portion is also more extreme as it makes clear that the dreams actually bothered him.  This sentence was also written in past tense and complex past tense, which gives the impression that this story has passed long ago.  Like the rest of the translations (except the first) specify that he found out about his transformation in his bed.  This little explicit detail gives the reader a more clear image him finding out about his transformation, because the readers can relate to waking up in their own bed.  As far as structure goes this translator chose to delay the finding through seemingly unneeded details.  Those being "one morning" and "in his bed".  Both of these details could have been placed in other portions of the sentence to allow for a smoother read, however the translator chose this more difficult flowing style as a possible way to represent the man's double take as he realizes his new reality.

#3:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

- This translation specifically uses "gigantic insect" to have the same size effect that the "enormous" did in the last sentence, but also specify that he has turned into an insect.  This is the most specific thing he has turned into in all of the renditions as there are special requirements of an insect.  This allows for a clearer picture of his new found reality.  This was also written in simple past tense which makes it seem as if the even had just happened recently.  This translation has the same imagery/detail examples and effects as the last, however the placement of these examples is slightly different.  This rendition reads smoother through the "one morning" section, but again seems to slow down at the "in his bed" portion.  This choice gives the reader an image of the man awaking to the day peacefully and happily, then looking down at himself, doing a double-take, and realizing that he has transformed.  This sentence structure creates a change in pace for the reader, which changes how he might exactly go about waking up.

#4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.
- In this one the translator chose to use the phrases "agitated dreams" and "monstrous vermin".  The "agitated dreams" portion is interesting as it specifically states that he was feeling scared or anxious about the contents of the dream.  This word choice is also a lot stronger than the others which amplifies the way the reader imagines the dreams.  Furthermore, the translator chose "monstrous vermin" which implies that he is something that others both fear and hate.  This is an important distinction because some people like "bugs" and "insects", but nobody calls anything they like a "vermin".  This sentence's simple past approach, like others, results in a seemingly close past event.  The same detail/imagery are found, but their placement and separation is remarkably different.  The choice to place "one morning" first in the sentence starts off the story with immediate setting.  This whole sentence was divided by commas.  This choice did two things.  It delayed the discovery of the transformation, which created tension, and it also represents the fashion in which this man woke up.  The slow, broken structure is a lot like the way a groggy person reacts to the world.  This affects the way the reader imagines his reaction.

With the conclusion of this exercise I can conclude that  word choice, syntax, punctuation, and imagery heavily affect the connotations of a particular story.  Word choice really affects opinions, whether that be the author's opinion on the situation, how the reader sees an action, or how the character sees certain situations.  Word choice is crucial to creating the colorful variety of opinion that laces a literary work.  The syntax is important to the narration of the story and discernment of what perspectives the reader will see.  Oftentimes a greater number of perspectives can be seen the farther removed tense from the story is told in.  Punctuation and sentence structure affects the speed and delivery of the sentence.  These deliveries can play with tension or also affect the way the reader might imagine how fast or slow a situation shakes out.  Imagery paints "the picture" for the reader, and is crucial if there is any meaningful contact between the main character and the environment.  Imagery ensures that the author and the reader are imagining the same story.  In my opinion diction is most effective in changing the meaning of the work because it causes the most drastic opinion shift.  This change in opinion, specifically reader opinion, is the source of discernment of a work's meaning, thus it is the most effective.

This exercise really made me think about how translators can drastically change the tone and general feel of a text by just rearranging words and using a thesaurus.  This given ability to change the work results in an increased difficulty to understand the intended message the original author was sending, because the translated story is muddled with the intended message of the translator.  These different translators, depending on their personal experiences, affect the tone of the book.  For example, a more emotionally polarized person may have written #4, given the use of diction.  However a nonchalant person may have written #1, given the lack of extremity and lack of explicit detail.  The characteristics of the translator affect the extremity of the tone of the translated work.