| The Castle, Definitive Edition, Muir Translation |
Article Index for The Castle |
Website Links For Castle |
Information AboutThe Castle, Definitive Edition, Muir Translation |
''The Castle'' is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka . The Plot introduction and summary may be found at the generic article '' The Castle ''. The purpose of this article is to provide specific details about the translation available by Edwin and Willa Muir, hereinafter the "Muir translations". HISTORY OF TRANSLATION In 1930 Willa and Edwin Muir translated the First German edition of ''The Castle'' as it was compiled by Max Brod . It was published by Secker & Warburg in England and Alfred A. Knopf in the United States. 1941 edition was the edition that fed the Kafka post-war craze. The 1941 edition included a homage by Thomas Mann . In 1954 the "Definitive" edition was published and included additional sections Brod had added to the Schocken Definitive German edition. The new sections were translated by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser. Some edits were made in the Muir text namely the changes were "Town Council" to "Village Council" , "Superintendent" to "Mayor", "Clients" to "Applicants" ''The Castle'', Alfred A. Knopf, 1968, New York, New York, Publisher's note page ''vii'' . The 1994 edition, the current publication, contains a preface by Irving Howe . TABLE OF CONTENTS The table of contents is provided as an illustration of the differences between translations and a guide to the contents in order to help the reader understand the differences.
NOTEWORTHY TRANSLATION DIFFERENCES Spiritual Tone Notable in the translations are a few words of significance. The Muir translations make use of wording that is often considered "spiritual" in nature. In one notable example, the Muirs translate the description of the castle as "soaring unfalteringly" where Harman uses "tapered decisively". ''The Castle'', Mark Harman, 1998, Schocken Books, New York, New York, Translator's Preface, page xvii Furthermore, the word "illusory" is used from the opening paragraph forward. Some critics note this as further evidence of the bias in the translation leaning toward a mystical interpretation."Franz Kafka & the trip to Spindemuhle", Eric Ormsby, ''The New Criterion'', Nov 1998, (http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/17/nov98/ormsby.htm) General Flow The differences become obvious if the reader reads the editions in parallel. To illustrate the opening paragraph of the Muir edition is: :"It was late in the evening when K. arrived. The village was deep in snow. The castle was hidden veiled in mist and darkness, nor was there even a glimmer of light to show the castle was there. 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." Juxtaposed to later translations:
:"It was late evening when K arrived. The village lay under deep snow. There was no sign of the castle hill, fog and darkness surrounded it, not even the faintest gleam of light suggested the large Castle. K. stood a long time on the wooden bridge that leads to from the main road to the village, gazing upward into the seeming emptiness."
:(to be added) Examples of Other Wording In the Muir editions, the conversation at the Mayor's office repeatedly refers to the castle's officials and their processes as "efficient". Reading this in the context of the set of gyrations between the village, multiple departments inside the castle and skepticism of the official Sordini, one might think the chapter is nothing but satire. In the translation). RELEASE DETAILS
SOURCES, REFERENCES, EXTERNAL LINKS, QUOTATIONS Footnotes: |
|
|