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(Kafka passim). If translations render this as “his
father/sister” instead of “the father/sister,” they
deprive the reader of Kafka’s intention to show that
Gregor’s father is not his anymore. Moreover, the
neutral phrase “the father” contains a general aspect,
important in connection with the period of the story’s
genesis. It was a time when German Expressionism,
obsessed with the dethroning of all authorities, saw
the paterfamilias as the foundation of general
obedience and subjugation that had to be overthrown.
Many of Kafka’s texts show his disgust with a society
based on hierarchy and anonymous power. His
concern was to reveal what this system does to the
individual. To overlook a political allusion, however
slight, may not change the overall import of “The
Metamorphosis.” Such a default, however, points to a
temptation intrinsic to translation in general: the
temptation to censor, an issue widely explored by
many scholars. Generally speaking, to be inattentive
to allusions might not change the external edifice of
the piece translated, but underneath, where something
should happen between text and reader, a fundamental
change takes place.
“Er lag auf seinem panzerartig harten
Rücken und sah, wenn er den Kopf ein
wenig hob, seinen gewölbten, braunen, von
bogenförmigen Versteifungen geteilten
Bauch, auf dessen Höhe sich die Bettdecke,
zum gänzlichen Niedergleiten bereit, kaum
noch erhalten konnte” (Kafka 56).
This sentence is a wonderful example of the
German habit to complicate sentences by intertwining
main and subordinate clauses and insertions. Here we
have a sentence containing two insertions, “wenn er
den Kopf ein wenig hob” and “zum gänzlichen
Niedergleiten bereit.” The comma before and after the
insertion stands for a pause, a breath-taking. The
insertion itself is supposed to be read in a slightly
lower pitch, as if it were a thought inserted in a piece
of reported speech, or some message whispered into
one’s ear. Changing this structure into two equally
valid clauses without insertions spoils the sentence’s
speed and pitch. It also obliterates the special
significance of the words placed between the commas.
For instance, the two inserted phrases contain the verb
heben (lift) and the noun Niedergleiten (fall down).
Again, Kafka’s deliberate wording and structuring is
of great portent. With these devices, the author tells
without telling that we have to deal with a person who
is about to fall down from his usual height, from a
being walking on two legs to a creeping creature.
A short excursion into Jewish legends further
illuminates the significance of Kafka’s wording here
as well as in his choice of title. In Jewish tradition,
transformations are a common motif. Gershom
Sholem relates an fable in which the wise man warns
his listener that “great saints undergo but one
incarnation, while ordinary mortals — may you be
spared such a fate — undergo a hundred and more.”
Those incarnations or transformations are inflicted as
punishment for transgressions against the
commandments. Their result is always the person’s
banishment from his family or community (Bruce 12).
Gregor’s fall from grace, implied in Kafka’s second
sentence, together with his annulment as a human
being implicit in the first, are indications that the
solution to the mystery of Gregor’s present condition
may lie somewhere in his past. This example shows
clearly how certain words rendered not correctly can
obscure the subtext of whole passages.
Gregor falls and ends up lying on his back.
Translations can hardly convey the connotation of the
German wording. Gregor’s “panzerartiger Rücken” is
his shield, be it armor-plated or shell-like. Far more
important is the word back. Gregor’s back serves as a
shield, much as his memories shield him at first from
a full realization of his situation. Similarly, Gregor’s
concern for his family has protected him until this
time from becoming independent, from the pain of
revolting against his exploitation by the family. Back,
memory, and concern are in German Rück-en, Rückerinnerung,
and Rück-sicht. Suddenly, Gregor’s
“panzerartiger Rücken” has become far more than
simply a hard-plated back. It is a symbol for Gregor’s
entire state of life and mind, and it is no coincidence
that the lethal wound caused by his father later in the
story is inflicted upon Gregor’s back.
A similar problem with connotations and
denotations faces the English translator with Kafka’s
use of the verb erhalten in connection with a bedquilt.
Kafka chose a highly unusual word
combination. Erhalten means to sustain and is
commonly used to describe a person’s effort to keep
his life going. Translations 5 and 6 omit this verb
completely; others miss the point by rendering it as
cling, poised, or perched. Translations 2 and 8,
creating constructions that include the verb hold,
come closest to the original. The point here is,
however, that Kafka chose an unusual word
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