1984

Author: George Orwell
Original Language: English
Translator: Rafael Vázquez Zamora
Genre: Dystopian fiction / Political fiction

Style

Orwell’s writing style in Nineteen Eighty-Four is direct, descriptive, and thought-provoking. He uses simple but powerful language to create a dark and oppressive atmosphere. The novel also incorporates political and technological vocabulary, as well as concepts related to propaganda and the manipulation of language.

Topic

The novel focuses on totalitarianism, surveillance, censorship, propaganda, and the control of individual thought. It explores how an authoritarian government can manipulate information and language to control people’s perception of reality.

Summary

Nineteen Eighty-Four follows Winston Smith, a man who lives in a society controlled by the Party and its leader, Big Brother. Every aspect of people’s lives is monitored, and independent thought is considered a crime. Winston secretly questions the Party’s authority and begins to rebel against the system. Through his experiences, the novel explores the consequences of political oppression and the struggle to preserve individual freedom and truth.

Chapter Ii

1st Paragraph

“As he put his hand to the door-knob Winston saw that he had left the diary open on the table. DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER was written all over it, in letters almost big enough to be legible across the room. It was an inconceivably stupid thing to have done. But, he realized, even in his panic he had not wanted to smudge the creamy paper by shutting the book while the ink was wet.”

Last Paragraph

“He put the diary away in the drawer. It was quite useless to think of hiding it, but he could at least make sure whether or not its existence had been discovered. A hair laid across the page-ends was too obvious. With the tip of his finger he picked up an identifiable grain of whitish dust and deposited it on the corner of the cover, where it was bound to be shaken off if the book was moved.”

CAPITULO II

1er Párrafo

“Al poner la mano en el pestillo recordó Winston que había dejado el Diario abierto sobre la mesa. En aquella página se podía leer desde lejos el ABAJO EL GRAN HERMANO repetido en toda ella con letras grandísimas. Pero Winston sabía que incluso en su pánico no había querido estropear el cremoso papel cerrando el libro mientras la tinta no se hubiera secado.”

Último párrafo

“Guardó el Diario en el cajón de la mesita. Era inútil pretender esconderlo; pero, por lo menos, podía saber si lo habían descubierto o no. Un cabello sujeto entre las páginas sería demasiado evidente. Por eso, con la yema de un dedo recogió una partícula de polvo de posible identificación y la depositó sobre una esquina de la tapa, de donde tendría que caerse si cogían el libro.”

First Paragraph

1. Transposition (Sequencing Shift)

Source: “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER was written all over it”
Translation: “En aquella página se podía leer desde lejos el ABAJO EL GRAN HERMANO repetido en toda ella”

The translator uses transposition by changing the sequence and organization of the information. The English sentence focuses on the phrase being written across the diary, while the Spanish version reorganizes the sentence around what can be read on the page. The meaning is preserved, but the information is presented in a different order.

2. Reduction / Implicitation

Source: “It was an inconceivably stupid thing to have done.”
Translation: [Omitted]

The translator uses reduction by omitting the sentence that directly describes Winston’s action as extremely foolish. Although this information is not included explicitly in the Spanish translation, the surrounding context still conveys Winston’s fear and awareness of the risk.

closing paragraph

1. Modulation (Semantic Shift)

Source: “It was quite useless to think of hiding it”
Translation: “Era inútil pretender esconderlo”

The translator uses modulation by changing the perspective from “thinking of hiding it” to “pretending to hide it.” The expression is reformulated in Spanish while maintaining the idea that hiding the diary would be pointless.

2. Reduction / Implicitation

Source: “whether or not its existence had been discovered”
Translation: “si lo habían descubierto o no”

The translator uses reduction by omitting the explicit reference to “its existence.” The Spanish pronoun “lo” conveys the idea more concisely because the diary is already understood from the context.

chapter iv

1st Paragraph

“With the deep, unconscious sigh which not even the nearness of the telescreen could prevent him from uttering when his day's work started, Winston pulled the speakwrite towards him, blew the dust from its mouthpiece, and put on his spectacles. Then he unrolled and clipped together four small cylinders of paper which had already flopped out of the pneumatic tube on the right-hand side of his desk.”

Last Paragraph

“Once again he glanced at his rival in the opposite cubicle. Something seemed to tell him with certainty that Tillotson was busy on the same job as himself. There was no way of knowing whose job would finally be adopted, but he felt a profound conviction that it would be his own. Comrade Ogilvy, unimagined an hour ago, was now a fact. It struck him as curious that you could create dead men but not living ones. Comrade Ogilvy, who had never existed in the present, now existed in the past, and when once the act of forgery was forgotten, he would exist just as authentically, and upon the same evidence, as Charlemagne or Julius Caesar.”

capitulo iv

1er Párrafo

“Con el hondo e inconsciente suspiro que ni siquiera la proximidad de la telepantalla podía ahogarle cuando empezaba el trabajo del día, Winston se acercó al hablescribe, sopló para sacudir el polvo del micrófono y se puso las gafas. Luego desenrolló y juntó con un clip cuatro pequeños cilindros de papel que acababan de caer del tubo neumático sobre el lado derecho de su mesa de despacho.”

Último párrafo

“De nuevo miró a su rival de la cabina de enfrente. Algo parecía decirle que Tillotson se ocupaba en lo mismo que él. No había manera de saber cuál de las versiones sería adoptada finalmente, pero Winston tenía la firme convicción de que se elegiría la suya. El camarada Ogilvy, que hace una hora no existía, era ya un hecho. A Winston le resultaba chistoso que se pudieran crear hombres muertos y no hombres vivos. El camarada Ogilvy, que nunca había existido en el presente, era ya una realidad en el pasado, y cuando quedara olvidado en el acto de la falsificación, seguiría existiendo con la misma autenticidad, con pruebas de la misma fuerza que Carlomagno o Julio César.”

First Paragraph

1. Modulation (Semantic Shift)

Source: “Winston pulled the speakwrite towards him”
Translation: “Winston se acercó al hablescribe”

The translator uses modulation by changing the perspective of the action. The English version describes Winston pulling the device toward himself, while the Spanish version describes Winston approaching the device. The perspective changes, but the general meaning is preserved.

2. Adaptation

Source: “speakwrite”
Translation: “hablescribe”

The translator uses adaptation by creating the term “hablescribe” to represent the fictional device “speakwrite.” This reformulation combines the concepts of speaking and writing in Spanish, allowing the reader to understand the function of the device while maintaining its futuristic nature.

closing paragraph

1. Literal Translation

Source: “Comrade Ogilvy, unimagined an hour ago, was now a fact.”
Translation: “El camarada Ogilvy, que hace una hora no existía, era ya un hecho.”

The translator uses literal translation by closely preserving the meaning and structure of the original sentence. The expression “was now a fact” is directly rendered as “era ya un hecho,” maintaining the idea that the fictional Comrade Ogilvy has been transformed into an accepted reality.

2. Amplification / Explicitation

Source: “with the same evidence”
Translation: “con pruebas de la misma fuerza”

The translator uses amplification by adding “de la misma fuerza” to clarify the meaning of “the same evidence.” This makes the comparison more explicit, emphasizing that the evidence supporting Comrade Ogilvy’s existence would be just as convincing as the evidence for historical figures such as Charlemagne or Julius Caesar.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse