IB Lit and Lang Blog 11: Nothing Really Mattress(?): Kafka, Camus, and the Importance of Translation
First Translation: This translation is the shortest of the four translations and is also the least descriptive. It also changes the character's name from Gregor, like in the original and other translations, to Gregory. This translation also just throws you into the conflict, immediately saying he woke up as a giant bug, without any description of his situation; meanwhile the other translations have at least one word before his name to make it more of a complex sentence. The use of "giant bug" also is not very descriptive compared to the other translations, like "gigantic insect." Second Translation: This translation is much more detailed. It lets us know that he was transformed into an enormous bug, which gives us a better understanding of how big he is, unlike the word giant. It also lets us know that he transformed into the bug in his bed, which lets us know that he didn't possibly sleep walk somewhere else while transforming, and also lets us know he wa...