Kafka en España: Ramón María Tenreiro, autor de la primera traducción de La metamorfosis a una lengua extranjera

Abstract

This article tries to unveil one of the great enigmas of Kafka studies, namely, the identity of the author of the first translation of The Metamorphosis into a foreign language. Indeed, in 1925 the Revista de Occidente published a Spanish version of Kafka’s famous novella, a translation that was 3 years ahead of the first French version and 12 years ahead of the first English version. The author of this translation, which helped to make Kafka’s work known throughout Europe and also in America, has remained unknown until now, despite the most diverse attributions, from Margarita Nelken to Jorge Luis Borges. We try to demonstrate, through solid contextual and textual arguments, that the only possible author of this pioneering translation, still valid today, is the Galician Ramón María Tenreiro.

Keywords

• kafka
• the metamorphosis
• spanish literature
• translation
• german literature
• latin american literature
• borges