Which Is It?

If you have been or are going to be studying the work, L’Etranger by Albert Camus, one question that is very likely to come up as you discuss this novel is ‘what is the “correct” translation into English of this title?’

You might be interested to take a look at the following article from The Guardian. The issue of translation is a many-faceted one and the background to what your edition will be titled is addressed by Alice Kaplan. And if you’re really interested in such matters, you might find the many short essays in David Bellos’ interesting collection called Is That a Fish in your Ear: Translation and the Meaning of Everything worth a look.

Here’s the link to the article about the title.  If you’re going to be studying it in your class, you might get ahead of the curve by knowing what’s behind the different translations.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/14/camus-letranger-stranger-than-fiction-alice-kaplan