Lost in Translation
A sentence can be conveyed in many different ways, though how a sentence is written can cause its meaning to slightly vary.
#1: Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.
While each of these sentences essentially is conveying the same message, by using various stylistic tools differently, each translator can slightly alter the meaning of the sentence. They do this by using synonyms of words that are all closely related and yet provide either positive, negative, or neutral connotations and vary in intensity. This change in words can be the difference in a neutral sentence that appears to just be stating the facts, like the first sentence, and a sentence that seems more exclamatory and intense, like the last sentence. In addition to this, the syntax and punctuation of a sentence can change its meaning as the order of words in a sentence can determine which parts of the sentence are emphasized and which parts set up the context for the rest of the sentence. Likewise, the punctuation creates a flow for the sentence and can either make it chopped up or more smooth. Imagery is more dependent on the syntax and diction of the sentence as it is these two components that will give the reader the ability to image in the scene in which the sentence belongs. Because of this, I believe that the syntax and diction, or word choice, are the two most effective stylistic tools in altering the meaning or similar sentences. This is because it is the words that make up the sentence that will eventually decide the meaning of the sentence and with what assumptions are made about the tone of the sentence, while the syntax determines the emphasis of the sentence and influences how the scene is read.
This exercise shows that we must take all translated texts with a grain of salt. While the author in their native language has complete control of the diction, syntax, and other stylistic devices, they lose a good portion of this control to the translator when their work is translated to a different language. Since each person might interpret the work as having a slightly different purpose or meaning, each translator would translate according to how he/she views the main messages and purposes of the work. These messages and purposes may vary from what the author originally intended, and therefore some of these messages and purposes may be lost in translation. In addition to this, as differently translated sentences vary in diction, syntax, structure and more, the tone created by these stylistic devices will, therefore, vary as well. This is because diction with a negative connotation and a long sentence might create a downcast tone whereas diction with a positive connotation and a shorter sentence might have an exclamatory or excited tone.
#1: Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.
- Diction: The word uneasy doesn't necessarily mean unpleasant, just slightly discomforting, and the word giant does not necessarily give a negative connotation.
- Syntax: The sentence is short and to the point, which makes it easy to understand but also lacking of details.
- Imagery/Details: There is almost none of this, as it is lacking it detail.
- Structure: It starts with his name, indicating that he is the clear subject of the passage, and does not hint towards whether or not this change is a positive or negative one.
- Other: This sentence is written in the past tense, making the reader feel more distant from the action.
#2: When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.
- Diction: The word troubled is more unpleasant and hints at the potential internal conflict while enormous is a striking word within the sentence, making it stand out and seem out of place, as Samsa as a bug would have been.
- Syntax: This sentence is longer than the first one and has a dependent clause followed by an independent clause, which indicates and stresses the idea that there were two actions in the sentence and not just one.
- Imagery/Details: The word enormous makes me picture a bug that is larger than a human, rather than a bug that is just larger than a normal bug's size.
- Structure: The way this sentence is structured, with a dependent clause and an independent clause, makes it feel more like Kafka is storytelling and not just stating what has happened.
- Other: The active tense in this passage shows that Samsa is a clear subject and in charge of his actions, although this conflicts with the meaning of the sentence.
#3: As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
- Diction: The word insect is much more specific than the word bug, changing the imagery and the word transformed is more drastic that changed and yet it also does not have a negative connotation.
- Syntax: This sentence is longer and the pacing of it also seems to give off a storytelling feel.
- Imagery/Details: With the word insect I picture a giant ant whereas with the word bug I picture a cockroach or a spider, and the detail that he was in his bed makes the scene much easier to picture as a whole.
- Structure: By having the words gigantic insect at the end, it makes this transformation more shocking as the beginning of the sentence seems normal and the last part is very peculiar.
- Other: The word as makes that sentence appear to be happening in the present time or close to the present time, which makes it easier for the reader to follow along with the action.
#4: One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.
- Diction: The word agitated means unpleasant and annoying though not something that a person can't deal with, and the words monstrous vermin are much more intense and grotesque than giant bug.
- Syntax: By starting with one morning, this sentence is giving context to the setting right away, and then in the middle of the sentence he adds to this setting by saying that the action is taking place in his bed.
- Imagery/Details: The words monstrous vermin make me imagine a hideous rat that is larger than humans.
- Structure: The commas in this sentence break up the flow of the sentence and make it seem more sporadic and less orderly.
- Other: The tone of this sentence is fairly clam as it is paced out, which conflicts with the harsh diction and meaning.
While each of these sentences essentially is conveying the same message, by using various stylistic tools differently, each translator can slightly alter the meaning of the sentence. They do this by using synonyms of words that are all closely related and yet provide either positive, negative, or neutral connotations and vary in intensity. This change in words can be the difference in a neutral sentence that appears to just be stating the facts, like the first sentence, and a sentence that seems more exclamatory and intense, like the last sentence. In addition to this, the syntax and punctuation of a sentence can change its meaning as the order of words in a sentence can determine which parts of the sentence are emphasized and which parts set up the context for the rest of the sentence. Likewise, the punctuation creates a flow for the sentence and can either make it chopped up or more smooth. Imagery is more dependent on the syntax and diction of the sentence as it is these two components that will give the reader the ability to image in the scene in which the sentence belongs. Because of this, I believe that the syntax and diction, or word choice, are the two most effective stylistic tools in altering the meaning or similar sentences. This is because it is the words that make up the sentence that will eventually decide the meaning of the sentence and with what assumptions are made about the tone of the sentence, while the syntax determines the emphasis of the sentence and influences how the scene is read.
This exercise shows that we must take all translated texts with a grain of salt. While the author in their native language has complete control of the diction, syntax, and other stylistic devices, they lose a good portion of this control to the translator when their work is translated to a different language. Since each person might interpret the work as having a slightly different purpose or meaning, each translator would translate according to how he/she views the main messages and purposes of the work. These messages and purposes may vary from what the author originally intended, and therefore some of these messages and purposes may be lost in translation. In addition to this, as differently translated sentences vary in diction, syntax, structure and more, the tone created by these stylistic devices will, therefore, vary as well. This is because diction with a negative connotation and a long sentence might create a downcast tone whereas diction with a positive connotation and a shorter sentence might have an exclamatory or excited tone.
Comments
Post a Comment