Blog #11 (2/14/19)

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

- Casual language used other than word "uneasy" 
- No commas or ways to break the sentence
- "Giant bug" is not very descriptive and does not sound very interesting 
- Does not say what kind of bug... maybe to persuade people to continue reading in order to figure out what kind of bug he transformed into 
- Maybe it is just me, but this does not sound very intriguing whatsoever
- Used the full name Gregory 

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

- Gregor instead of Gregory 
- Troubled instead of uneasy... makes it sound more scary rather than something unpleasant 
- Included the part about transforming in his bed, making it seem much more surprising
- Still no use of commas 
- Enormous instead of giant... makes it seem like a bigger deal 
- More descriptive words which helps me to envision the scenario much clearer than first one

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

- Still no use of commas and it is starting to bother me because it makes the sentence sound horrible
- Gregor rather than Gregory 
- Uneasy is used once again, making his dreams sound like something bothersome and weird
- Once again added the part about this happening in his bed, even though it is already implied when it says that he wakes up as a bug
- New word to describe the size of the insect... gigantic 
- Use of the term insect, makes it sound much less gross but also makes you want to know what it is 
- Structured very similar to each of the other ones
- Gigantic is on a much larger scale than giant 

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

- FINALLY!! A translation that uses commas! 
- This sounds much more structured and it makes sense and does not make me want to throw my head into a wall
- Also uses Gregor rather than Gregory 
- New word... agitated 
- Sounds more like his dreams were an annoyance and something he was trying not to have
- Monstrous... probably my favorite word choice, makes it sound much worse 
- Vermin rather than bug or insect which makes it sound much grosser and like something you would not want to happen to you
- This version is definitely my favorite one, it is well formulated and easy to read. It also uses very well chosen descriptions which helps to increase the severity of the situation in the eyes of the reader

The Idea of Translation:
These four translations were all very similar to one another. All but the fourth used almost the same structure and main ideas, the only differences were the choice of adjectives. I think that the word choice of each of the four is what made them so different. The first translation was very plain and there was little used of well chosen descriptors. It was also very challenging to read due to lack of punctuation and good imagery. I think that the best translation what the last one. It used commas, making it much easier to read, along with a much better choice of descriptive words. "Vermin" was a very interesting choice and made Samsa's situation seem much worse than each of the other translations. The term "monstrous" also contributed to that worsening tone. However, the second translation used the word "insect" which I found to be very interesting. It lowered the severity of the situation but almost intrigued me more than the ones that used "bug". I thought it was very odd how the first translation used the full name Gregory while each of the others only said Gregor. I think that by using Gregory it made it sound much more official, it just sounds like the name of a business man, which would lead me to believe that something like turning into a bug should not be happening to him. All in all, I think that the fourth translation was most effective in making the reader truly feel and understand the severity of the situation, making the reader feel empathy towards his situation. I think that the only thing that would have made it sound better would have been to say Gregory rather using the shortening of it, Gregor. 

I think that this does prove the importance behind the differing in translations. There are so many ways to interpret ideas and couple that with the varying ways of translating, interpreting ideas identically to someone else becomes very hard, almost impossible. I think that there are so many words in the English language and everyone has different connotations that go with each of them. I thought that the first translation was very plain and that there were much better choices for the word "giant", but someone else could think this is completely false. It all depends on who is reading it and their past experiences. The first translation, to me, had a very plain tone that was very boring and it did not make me want to continue reading, but it could have been completely different to someone else reading it. Translations are very, very important to the main idea of a novel. Miscommunications played prominent roles throughout history and many were due to the differing translations between culture or language. 

There is also the intricate idea of words that have multiple meanings that can be very different from one another. Words like this are usually what makes learning a new language so difficult, you have to memorize all the words but also all of their meanings. I also believe that the concept of translations is very interesting because it offers the opportunity to engage in interactive communication with others due to the differing interpretations from the translations. It is basically what we do in English class everyday. We all think for ourselves and break down important paragraphs in what we are reading, and then we share out. The way we each understand a passage is our translation. They are all different and sharing them allows to see what others believe and possibly change the way we believe in things. When I read the first translation for this novel, there was no part of me that wanted to continue reading and I was very confused as to how this was even a good idea to start a novel. However, the fourth translation made the book seem interesting and like something I would actually enjoy reading. It is all based on how the individual interprets ideas.