Buggin' Out Over these Translations

Bob Duncan, Exterminator
Owner of Bob's Bugs Be Gone

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

When first reading this sentence, the use of the word uneasy gives me the impression of someone feeling unwell or uncomfortable, especially with the connotation of the word being associated with feeling sick or ill. However due to the simplistic structure of the sentence, the messaged being conveyed seems almost silly and childlike. With the word giant being used to describe the size of the bug Gregory Samsa was transformed into, the simple diction causes the sentence to be taken lightheartedly.

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

The first thing I take note of is the use of the word, troubled, to describe the dreams that Gregor Samsa had. Though troubled is defined as "beset by problems or conflict," when seeing those words to describe his dreams, it seems as if Gregory's character was one with internal conflicts that need to be resolved. It also indicates a sense of stress and concern that would have resulted from the dream. It also important to note the use of more sophisticated diction to depict the events, like the use of the words transformed and awoke. Also the translator's decision to use the word, enormous, to describe the size of the bug further illustrates the change that Gregor Samsa went through.

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

In this translation, I immediately notice that it started with an adverb that made the narrator was telling the narrative in a present tense. Similar to the two translations above, the same diction is used to describe the type of dreams Gregor had, as well as the extent of his modification. What stands out the most is the phrase, "gigantic insect," as the translator decided to use words that are ordinary, yet when put together, it shows the absurdity of the concept. The word, gigantic, is usually used to describe an object that is obscenely large; and when I think of the word, insect, I think of a bug, but one that is more menacing and has six legs. 

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

The most notable difference in this translation is the structure of the sentence. Rearranged with the use of commas, this translator made the decision to put the subject in the middle of the sentence. Another change that is evident is the description of the dreams being described as agitated, which indicates a feeling of something being bothersome and annoying. It is also important to notice the choice of "monstrous vermin" to depict the creature Gregor had turned into. The diction helps to create the necessary imagery to fully illustrate the state in which he woke up.

Translations are an integral part of communicating between individuals who speak a different language. However, due to the unique nature of any language, there are millions of undertones, connotations, and nuances that cannot be translated. Due to this, things are often "lost in translation" as specific tones and meanings are not clearly communicated between the differences in culture. The four examples above indicate how translations have the ability to completely transform depending on the choices that the translator makes to communicate the overall message. In the four examples, I believe that word choice and imagery have the greatest impact on the message conveyed by the translation as it has the potential to completely transform the meaning of a phrase, by simply changing a word to a synonym, or placing a comma elsewhere.

This exercise illustrates the difficulty of reading translated texts as it clearly depicts how changes in diction and structure can change the way the reader interprets the message that is being conveyed. With that, it also showcases how translated texts will never fully convey the intended message as the nuances of the origin language cannot be directly deposited into the translated language. Thus demonstrating how the variations in the translations can impact the tone of the sentence, which is controlled by the translator's choices in trying to best communicate the intended meaning.