Verwandlung

Each literary work carries in itself the historical context of the era in which it was created, but the context of the time in which it is read and becomes popular is also superimposed onto it . Franz Kafka is one of the most analyzed authors because of his undeniable importance for modern literature, but also because of the extraordinary metaphorical nature and ambiguity of his texts. Kafka is an interesting phenomenon because his texts not only do not become obsolete, but they keep be- ing tirelessly translated all over the world. His most famous short story, „Die Verwandlung” (“The Metamorphosis”), has thirty-one translations in Spanish, twenty-five in English, and three in Bulgarian. The current study focuses on the questions why we need a new translation and what makes a new translation actually new.