Original Text (Page 848): “But while you’re drying yourself, you remember the old lady and the girl as they smiled at you before leaving the room arm in arm; you recall that whenever they’re together they always do the same things: they embrace, smile, eat, speak, enter, leave, at the same time, as if one were imitating the other, as if the will of one depended on the existence of the other … You cut yourself lightly on one cheek as you think of these things while you shave; you make an effort to get control of yourself. When you finish shaving you count the objects in your traveling case, the bottles and tubes which the servant you’ve never seen brought over from your boarding house: you murmur the names of these objects, touch them, read the contents and instructions, pronounce the names of the manufacturers, keeping to these objects in order to forget that other one, the one without a name, without a label, without any rational consistency. What is Aura expecting of you? You ask yourself, closing the traveling case. What does she want, what does she want?”
1st Person: But while I’m drying myself, I remember the old lady and the girl as they smiled at me before leaving the room arm in arm; I recall that whenever they’re together they always do the same things: they embrace, smile, eat, speak, enter, leave, at the same time, as if one were imitating the other, as if the will of one depended on the existence of the other … I cut myself lightly on one cheek as I think of these things while I shave; I make an effort to get control of myself. When I finish shaving I count the objects in my traveling case, the bottles and tubes which the servant I’ve never seen brought over from your boarding house: I murmur the names of these objects, touch them, read the contents and instructions, pronounce the names of the manufacturers, keeping to these objects in order to forget that other one, the one without a name, without a label, without any rational consistency. What is Aura expecting of me? I ask myself, closing the traveling case. What does she want, what does she want?
3rd Person: But while he’s drying himself, he remembers the old lady and the girl as they smiled at him before leaving the room arm in arm; he recalls that whenever they’re together they always do the same things: they embrace, smile, eat, speak, enter, leave, at the same time, as if one were imitating the other, as if the will of one depended on the existence of the other … He cut himself lightly on one cheek as he thinks of these things while he shaves; he makes an effort to get control of himself. When he finishes shaving he counts the objects in his traveling case, the bottles and tubes which the servant he has never seen brought over from his boarding house: he murmurs the names of these objects, touches them, reads the contents and instructions, pronounces the names of the manufacturers, keeping to these objects in order to forget that other one, the one without a name, without a label, without any rational consistency. What is Aura expecting of you? he asks himself, closing the traveling case. What does she want, what does she want?
Difficulties while translating: When translating from second person POV to third person POV I ran into some trouble because it required altering the structure of the sentences to keep them grammatically correct.
-Borys Shturman
Translating this paragraph from second to first person creates a bit of a disconnect from the original as it sounds less and less like a dream and more like the reader gets to see from the speaker’s point of view instead of their own. While reading this text in the second person, I picture myself going through the motions, seeing through my own eyes what is being described. This is something we are not used to seeing in literature, and it may even be a bit uncomfortable at first. It did, however, allow me to fully envelop myself in the story; whereas in first person that effect is faded. Going from, “you cut yourself lightly on one cheek as you think of these things while you shave; you make an effort to get control of yourself,” to, “I cut myself lightly on one cheek as I think of these things while I shave; I make an effort to get control of myself,” it’s somewhat easier for the reader to watch as an outsider to the story rather than try and picture themselves a part of it. First person makes more sense. Second person feels more like a fantasy than a reality. Therefore, it would not work in every genre. That being said, I do appreciate the second point of view here because I am not exposed to it often and I feel like I can better visualize what’s going on. Even still, I don’t think I would enjoy reading as much if everything were in the second person. There needs to be an overall balance between POVs.
- Emily Weiss
The third person point of view is a lot more relatable, considering that a narrator is present. We are no longer being told what we are doing, but rather imagining the characters and their actions. When reading the original text, the second person point of view seems intrusive and difficult to imagine. For example, “you cut yourself lightly on one cheek as you think of these things while you shave.” It is hard for me to picture myself shaving my face, considering that I have never done so before. The text forces me to picture myself as a character in the story rather than focusing on solely imagining a new independent character who “cuts himself lightly on one cheek as he thinks of these things while he shaves.” Although the second person point of view could be considered confusing, I think it has also helped keep my attention; as human beings, we are a lot more interested when listening to something that has to do with ourselves. Therefore, if the author constantly mentions “you”, it could help the reader feel more involved in the story rather than looking from the outside in.
- Zuzanna Osiecka