The Stranger Journal 2: Title and Translation

Part 1: Translation
Based off of the work that was done in class today, I personally like the translation by Matthew Ward. I think that the translation by Stuart Gilbert does not possess the authenticity of the original novel. One of the first noticeable signs of this is the fact that Ward keeps the word maman. In doing this, he preserves the connotations of the french term that do not necessarily apply to mom, mommy, or mother. Maman is similar to, but not directly translated from any of the previous terms. It is a pretty affectionate term that English doesn't have an exact word for. Another reason that I prefer Ward's translation is that I think his language is much more concise. Using another example from the first page of the text, in the Ward translation Camus writes that "[t]hat doesn't mean anything." (1). In the Gilbert translation, this same line of text is translated as "[w]hich leaves the matter doubtful." (1). In my personal opinion, I think that The Stranger as a whole is a very stark and precise novel in it's writing, and overall I think that Ward does a much better job of preserving this feeling than Gilbert.

Part 2: The Title
While I really like the title "The Stranger", I feel that the title "The Outsider" is more true to the essence of the novel, it that's not too ambiguous. What I'm trying to say is that it feels like there is a distance in this novel, not only between the reader and Mersault/Camus, but also between Mersault/Camus and the world around them. It seems as though Mersault is often observing and reporting what is going on around him, but he seems to give very little insight into his own opinions other than a short line of text, one example of this is on the bottom of page 31 and the top of page 32, when Mersault is listening to Raymond talk of his ex-mistress: "But first he wanted to ask me something. But before he did, though, he wanted to know what I thought of the whole thing. I said I didn't think anything but that it was interesting."  (31-32). Another example of this feeling of "outside looking in" is seen on page 15 during Maman's funeral: "I was looking at the countryside around me. Seeing the rows of cypress trees leading up to the hills next to the sky, and the houses standing out here and there against that red and green earth, I was able to understand Maman better." (15). Again in this line, it feels as though Mersault is somewhat distanced from the world around him, thus why I believe "The Outsider" is a better title.