Importance of Translations

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

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

• insect-specific type of bug
• uneasy-restlessness
• continuous no puctuation= detached from what Gregor feels
• objective views of what he turned into
• transformed- implies no resemblance to former self
• one morning- typical day that something strange is going to happen in 

#2:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.

• Uneasy - restlessness
• changed- seems as though he may not have undergone a "complete transformation" still some trace of his former self 
• woke- sudden break from sleep
• giant bug- negative connotations. Makes me think of like a big beetle. 
• By placing his name first 
• Bug- more negative than the word insect, bothersome 

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

• Enormous- makes me think like human sized, or abnormally large for a bug,  not normal or natural
• troubled dreams- nightmare
• transformed- implies no resemblance to former self
• Bug- more negative than the word insect, bothersome 
• Longer sentence still processing the information, processing his transformation

#4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

• Frequent use of commas- Gregor hasn't processed the transformation yet. leads audience to process this with him
• agitated- most negative descriptive word used, Gregor had nightmares that he couldn't escape, woke up to find something worse
• montrous- no longer human like
• vermin- very negative, don't know if he is a bug or rat, but he is a pest of some kind
• transformed- implies no resemblance to former self

After analyzing each, respond to the following questions in a well-developed (2-3 paragraphs) response- think about the translations as a whole: How does the word choice, syntax, punctuation, and imagery shift in each affect meaning? Is one more effective than another? Why? What does this exercise bring up about the difficulty of reading translated texts? How do different translations effect the tone of the sentence? 

The meaning of the translation greatly changes with the stylistic features. By changing one word slightly affects how the reader interprets the text and views certain characters for the entirety of a work of literature. First impressions are very important especially in works of literature.

Simply by changing one word to describe the change that occurred to Gregor Samsa affects how the audience views interprets Gregor's views toward the change. By using the words "monstrous vermin" there is an understanding that he has turned into something undesirable and that he has negative views of what he has turned into. This phrase also does not give a clear representation of what he ahs turned into. By using the word "vermin" the audience is aware of the negative connotations of the word, but cannot get a clear picture of the thing that he has turned into. In contrast,in the first translation using the word "insect" implies a very specific type of bug and does not carry the negative connotations. It implies a bug with six legs and three major segments to the body. The audience is given a very clear view of what Gregor has turned into. The word "bug" leaves the visual of Greogor open to interpretation but not so much as the word "vermin" did. With bug we are aware of the type of creature he has turned into  but are not givne a clear view since bug is such a broad term.The lack of punctuation in the first three translation presents the transformation all at once as though the narrator has already processed the fact that Gregor has turned into a bug. The fourth translation has a more slow pace. This comes across as though the narrator is processing the information with the reader.

Personally,  the fourth translation is the most effective. It shows that the author is taking more of a negative tone toward the transformation. By using phrase "monstrous vermin" it creates more emotion in the text than the other three translation do. I also think the use of punctuation has a positive impact on the way the message is delivered. The pausesecond created with commas adds an air of disbelief to what has just occurred. It makes the narrator come across as though he or she is gaining insight at the same time as the audience. This exercise makes me specifically think about the scene when Meursault killed the Arab. I wonder how it would be read differently if more description was given. Due to the point of view of The Stranger the information the audience is given is indifferent. I wonder how a different point of view would changer this scene. I am also curious about how changing punctuation would impact the ways it is read and interpreted. Would more pauses come across as Meursault second guessing his actions? Would longer sentencesee with a description of the feeling he got make it seems as if he enjoyed killing the Arab? I think that little changes have a great impact on the way a reader interprets some thing and it is interesting to look at how just these changes influence the views of the audience.