Translation

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

• diction (connotation/denotation): "Gregor Samsa" = original German name; "awoke" rather than "woke" = more active, more formal; "uneasy" vs "troubled" or "agitated" = less gravity, more simple, less dramatic; "transformed" rather than "changed" = more of a change; makes the reader think that more drastic measures took place; "gigantic insect" = more formal than "bug", but less extreme than "monstrous"
• syntax: lack of commas (should be one after "dreams")
• imagery/details: includes "in his bed" unlike some of the other translations which adds another detail into the mix/creates a more detailed visual for the reader; "gigantic insect" leaves a lot of interpretation
• structure: by beginning with "As" it feels like much more of story-like sentence than some of the others; the act of being changed into a bug is perhaps not as emphasized in this sentence, in comparison with the others

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

• diction: changed to "Gregory" rather than "Gregor = loses original German vibe; "woke" = less active/less commonly used ('woke' is more often used in combination with the word 'up'); "changed" = less drastic than "transformed"; "bug" = more simple than "insect," and therefore more easily understandable/conversational
• syntax: active voice; lack of punctuation of any sort
• imagery/details: "bug" and "changed" are much less detailed/not as descriptive; leave less room for interpretation or imaginative thinking
• structure: very straightforward and to the point w/ active voice; by starting with "Gregory Samsa," it gets straight to the point of the sentence without a lot of extra 'fluff" or elaboration

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

• diction: kept German "Gregor"; "troubled" is more negatively connotated than "uneasy"; "transformed" = more extreme than changed, implies that this change into a bug is more significant; "enormous," although different from "gigantic" has a very similar connotation, both express very large sizes
• syntax: lack of commas - should be one after "morning" and could be commas around "in his bed"; very wordy/lacking proper and/or sufficient punctuation
• imagery/details: "troubled" implies that Gregor's dreams are more negative and the reader therefore thinks of more scary/disturbing potential dreams; including "in his bed" adds another detail to the description
• structure: cause-and-effect structure; by beginning with "when...", it sets the stage for the main action - "he found he had been transformed"

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

• diction: German "Gregor"; "upon awakening" = much more formal; "agitated" = very dramatic word-choice. loaded word; "monstrous vermin" = very elevated vocabulary. much less commonplace, along with "transformed"
• syntax: much more punctuation and commas; "upon awakening from agitated dreams" and "in his bed," because enclosed by commas, are more of side-notes and are to be treated with less importance
• imagery/details: a lot of imagery present as a result of the elevated and dramatized language; "monstrous vermin," for example, allows the reader to think up the most terrible visual possible
• structure: introductory clause; happening in the past; story-like with details enclosed in commas

The shifts in diction, syntax, imagery, punctuation, and structure in each of these translations greatly affect the meaning. Although the sentence being described never changed, simple alterations and tweaks to it made it seem as though each new phrase was initially created, from scratch, on its own. Where emphasis is placed in a sentence greatly determines how the reader will read it and what he/she will learn from it. For example, with the first translation, it flows through very nicely, lacking sufficient punctuation, and forms a story-like narrative. Since this sentence is so one-toned and rolls off the tongue very easily, the reader might not realize the significance of the transformation of Gregor as quickly or as easily, compared with the other translations. Additionally, the fourth translation includes a lot more commas and is much more punctuated, which has the effect of hinting at the reader what is most important in the sentence and what is merely extra detail or description. The phrases "upon awakening from agitated dreams" and "in his bed" are both enclosed by commas and therefore imply that they should not be emphasized as much as the main point of the sentence - that Gregor Samsa found himself transformed into a bug.

I think that the last translation, which utilizes punctuation the most, is the most effective because by emphasizing key components of the situation at hand, it most clearly illustrates the element of absurdity. It also is the translation that uses the most elevated and advanced diction, with words and phrases such as "upon awakening," "agitated," and "monstrous vermin." With descriptive vocabulary like this comes imagery and the ability for the reader to interpret the content for his or herself and visually imagine the scenario.

It was so easy to describe each sentence in a unique way, which, in this case, is not a good thing. Theoretically, it should have been very hard for me to find meaningful differences between the various translations because that would mean that they were translated well and true to the original. This brings up the difficulty of reading translated texts - How can we be sure that what we are reading is what the author really wanted us to read? How can we be sure that it hasn't been altered enough for the meaning to change? This activity has made me much more aware of the dangers of translating and has made me realize how much altering even just a few words can change the meaning and tone of a sentence, especially because The Stranger was translated.