Loosed in Translation discussion

Franz Kafka
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message 1: by Jimmy (new)

Jimmy (jimmylorunning) | 140 comments Mod
A new translation of The Metamorphosis translated by Susan Bernofsky will be published in 2014.

Here's a review of that translation, which goes into specific word choices. Very interesting indeed: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/bo...


message 2: by Geoff (new)

Geoff | 4 comments Jimmy wrote: "A new translation of The Metamorphosis translated by Susan Bernofsky will be published in 2014.

Here's a review of that translation, which goes into specific word choices. Very interesting indeed:..."


Ooh thanks for the link Jimmy!


message 3: by Jimmy (new)

Jimmy (jimmylorunning) | 140 comments Mod
You're welcome!


message 4: by Kendra (new)

Kendra (okaynevermind) | 6 comments Anyone have any insight into how I should read The Trial? I've seen so many flaws talked about in analysis that I fee like just waiting until I learn enough German.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...

I found this of interest.


message 5: by Robert (new)

Robert Wechsler | 9 comments Be sure to read Breon Mitchell's translation. It's excellent. The old translation does some of the interpreting for you by making the novel a religious allegory, which most scholars do not believe it was meant to be. Read J. M. Coetzee's essay in the NY Review of Books..


message 6: by Klowey (new)

Klowey | 7 comments Kendra's link is no longer valid, but thanks for posting it.

Robert's link is a pay to read more than the first paragraph. But it does look good.

Can anyone tell me what they think of David Whiting's translation. Here is someone's comparison:

German: Lange stand K. auf der Holzbruecke, die von der Landstrasse zum Dorf fuehrte, und blickte in die scheinbare Leere empor.

Breon Mitchell: K. stood a long time on the wooden bridge that leads from the main road to the village, gazing upward into the seeming emptiness.

David Whiting: For a long time K. stood on the wooden bridge that led from the country road to the village looking up into the apparent void.

Edwin Muir: On the wooden bridge leading from the main road to the village, K. stood for a long time gazing into the illusory emptiness above him.


message 7: by Robert (new)

Robert Wechsler | 9 comments Can anyone tell me what they think of David Whiting translation"

I don't know the Whiting translation, but the last phrase in the three tiny excerpts differ in a way that is possibly indicative. The Muirs' "illusory" overly interprets; the Whiting prose is flat; and the Mitchell has the most interesting sounds and cadence.


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