Best English Translation Of Kafka. I don t have any reason why unfortunately but i just enrolled in a lit trans kafka course at wisconsin and my professor insists we all buy this specific version. Bernofsky lead an in depth and lively discussion of her transl.
It might seem a little less modern to us but the english that muirs used is contemporary to kafka s german. Willa and edwin muir are usually chosen by my university s german department when teaching to an english speaking audience. Translated and with a preface by mark harman.
Inevitably the conception of kafka as a religious writer influenced the choices the muirs made as they translated his words.
His essays on kafka in the art of the novel and testaments betrayed especially in his essay a sentence about three french translations of one sentence in the castle caused me to go back and re read kafka and drew my interest in thinking about the issue of translation with kafka. With almost every encounter i have with kafka i find his novels are the least satisfactory and the stories are where his heart rests. It remained as the standard for a long time. It is most importantly kafkaesque.