Are you lost in translation? Because me too...

"Bonjour, mon petit chou, tu vas bien?"

Directly translated, this means:

 "Good day my little cabbage, you go well?"  

Now clearly, books that are translated don't give us perfectly direct translations, like the one above, so as to account for the differences in slang and regional vernacular. But this brings up the question: what else gets lost in translation?  

Different words have different connotations in every language. It's just the diverse nature of the world. So what happens when you use a word that makes sense in the context of a situation, but it doesn't hold the same meaning as what the author intended. For instance maybe the author is trying to say that a person is so nosy because they are constantly asking people about their daily activities. A possible translation might replace "nosy" with "interested." The same meaning is achieved while also not being fully formed. The word nosy puts that negative spin on the person's actions and communicates their unpleasant nature with the audience. 

What I'm trying to get at here is that, when you're reading a translated piece, you're no longer inspecting the real author's thoughts. You're opening yourself up to the interpretation of the translator. At that point, you don't know which thoughts are communicated by the author or the translator. 

So next time you pick up a book that isn't in it's originally written language, take
the 30 seconds , 1 minute, 2.5 minutes to read the translator's note. I'm serious. It's not that hard. Why do we always skip it? I mean, it's not like it's 70 pages of introduction unlike SOME books. *coughs* scarlet letter *coughs* 

Anyway, I just read the translators note for The Stranger and found that it took longer than 30 seconds, but that's okay because now I see where the translator is coming from in the way they interpret the original piece. This is an important element to factor in when thinking about a novel's purpose.

          Side note, the translator's note of The Stranger reveals some instances of rhetorical strategies used throughout the novel, if you want to keep a lookout for those things in particular.