Summary and Stance in Milan Kundera's A Sentence

Kunderas essay centers on Kafkas work and the fate it has suffered at the work force of both translators and publishers, who have limitingd and distorted, sometimes against the precedents wishes, the beauty of Kafkas art (101). He (Kundera) begins with an example of a reprobate from The Castle, iodin of Kafkas most separate full treatment, in which the actor describes the coition of K., the main blaze momenter, and Frieda, a adult female with whom he has a discontinuous relationship. I will plainly cite Kunderas translation from the German original, which he was motivated to touch due to the imperfections he plant in Alexandre Valettis, Claude David, and Bernard Lortholary: T here(predicate)(predicate) hours went by, hours of usual breaths, of mutual heartbeats, hours in which K. continually had the senseing that he was pass astray, or that he was out-of-the- representation(prenominal)ther inside the eery creation than any person before him, in a strange world where the very air had in it no share of his native air, where one mustiness suffocate from inquisitiveness and where, in the midst of absurd enticements, one could do nonhing provided detention back going, keep going astray. (103)         The imperfections found by Kundera chaff from the sentence being a metaphor. He states that, by victimisation the verb jab instead of to be (into, which is what Kafka wrote), the metaphor is broken and revealed, since the act of erotic love involves the man to thrust. Even Lortholary, the closest of the translators, uses advance into, which is far away from to be. A nonher slip ones mind comes in the elimination of the reciprocation strange, which is repeat three times. Here, the translators avoided the repetition and substituted it with foreign and exile, which do not see to it the same import as strange. If an author chooses a specific occur voice, he does it thinking about style. If Kafka uses Fremde, wh ich way strange, we cannot turn it into a f! oreign coun strain, or abroad, since this is not the nub he wanted to express in his metaphor. This is perhaps the biggest mistake in the translation. Metaphors catch empiric situations in Kafkas work. This could, of course, be done by a blunt description, further in the metaphor an author not save secures his own style, and the esthetic of his work. Words are carefully chosen as key joints to grasp the situation. By changing them, translators break, not lonesome(prenominal) the aesthetic value of the metaphor, hardly transfer it from its existential arena to the domain of visual description, thus, ending the metaphor. Kafka expresses coition surrounded by K. and Freida in metaphors, which is more beautiful than simply saying: K. and Freida ticktack and groped each other. The translators situation is delicate. They must receive the author and his/her intentions. Unfortunately, they often overlook this most important aspect of their work. bingle of translators most iterate (and here we are being redundant on purpose) mistakes is the elimination of repeated quarrel. They have the need to synonymize when they come across a word that comes out two or three times in a sentence or paragraph. What they fail to understand is that sometimes the author has chosen this simplicity because in it lays the beauty of the work. Translators sometimes show their mastery of vocabulary by finding synonyms for these types of mistakes they encounter. They feel like they are ambassadors of good nomenclature, thus, feeling themselves with authority and bespeak duty to correct an authors transgression of good language use. hatred is an authors right. It shows his/her personal style, which should be the translators authority, not his desire to write conventionally good. When an author (especially a renowned one) repeats words, it is not because he lacks a vocabulary bank, plainly because he sees in the repetition an emphasis on its broadness or i ts melodic effect. On a texts grammar, it is the edit! ors responsibility to correct overlooked mistakes, precisely when these mistakes are made intentionally in graze to hold on the aesthetic value of the text, neither the editor, nor the translator should come in to change or correct them.

If Kafka writes with a lack of punctuation, it is because he wants to preserve the breath, which keeps the lecturer going and sweeps him/her away. Kafka wrote long paragraphs, sometimes dividing an wide chapter in two paragraphs. Some translators have chosen to interrupt the paragraphs to give a sense of rational order (in the minds of translators). Fortunately, (and strangely) this happens only in French translators. Kafka wanted his paragraphs long. In fact, he communicate that his works be published in large font, so that the geter would not be burdened by an lush summation of words, or lose their place in the reading. I change course totally with Kundera on his criticism of translators and his suggestions on the topic. Translating is necessary. As it was mentioned in class, it is nice to know galore(postnominal) languages, but one cannot exact them all. That is the importance of translation. Without it, we wouldnt be able to read many important authors from around the world. With this importance, comes a great believe of responsibility. A translator must master both the language translated and the butt end language. Most importantly, he must try to understand the authors intentions before taking the undertaking of interpret metaphors or eliminate repeated words. One cannot take the authors style by changing words or eliminating repetitions. One of the joys of reading and writing is that we discover r ecent ways to enjoin stories and experiences, to foc! us themes and situations. If a translators job is to fall upon the text available across the borders of language, then he/she must take the responsibility of relaying the authors message, style and intention, as the author wishes it. Style is an authors right. Let us not infringe on the right, which makes this variety show in writing, the enriching and felicitous experience it is. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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