Translation variants of Franz Kafka's metamorphosis into Albanian language

Abstract

The focus of this article is the comparative review of the translated versions of Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis into the Albanian language. Based on theoretical concepts on literary translation, the study uses the comparative method in the review of four translated variants into Albanian by the translators: Rexhep Hida (1992), Ardian Klosi (2010), Gjergj Vlashi (2012) and Primo Shllaku (2018), which also make up the corpus of this study. The aim is to identify the translated variant in the Albanian language which is closest to Kafka's source text, based on the fact that the difficulties of translation and its challenges are related to a number of internal and external factors such as the selection of semantic equivalences, the re-creation of the effect of the work in a new language without missing the message of the source text, etc. The paper begins with a philological analysis (Solar 1976, 31) of the editions of the versions at different times and continues the analysis on the evaluation of the translations based on three aspects: structural, semantic as well as syntactic-morphological and spelling ones. In conclusion, we can say that the translations of the work Metamorphosis represent new variants. They aim to adhere to the original source text by trying to select semantic, structural and linguistic equivalences that best preserve the meaning of the source text and convey its artistic effect. These equivalences are conditioned by the complexity and purpose of the source text, the language and style of the author, as well as by the translator's form of understanding and the linguistic competence he possesses.

Received: 20 November 2022

Accepted: 26 March 2023

Published: 09 April 2023