An Introduction of The Great Gatsby and Its Spreading

【Abstract】The Great Gatsby is the masterpiece of Fitzgerald. Due to its unique language style and profound thematic significance， China has published over 50 kinds of Chinese versions of this novel（including Taiwan versions）. And the monographs on the novel in various academic journals has reached more than 130. This paper aims to briefly introduce this classics and its spreading in China.

【Key words】Fitzgerald; The Great Gatsby; spreading

【作者簡介】史玉文（1993-），女，貴州黔南人，遵義醫科大學外國語學院，助教，碩士，研究方向：外國語言學，應用語言學。

【基金項目】遵義醫科大學碩士啟動基金項目，編號：FS-2017-3。

Ι.? F. S. Key Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald was a world-renowned American novelist. Besides nearly 160 short stories and four novels in his lifetime， he also wrote numerous short stories， many of which treat themes of youth and promise， age and despair illustrating the Jazz Age. Therefore， he had also been voted as a member of the “Lost Generation” of the 1920s.The miserable ending of the hero in The Great Gatsby symbolizes the ruin of American dream， which deeply reveals the fantasy and disillusionment of that time during the Second World War.

The Great Gatsby written by Fitzgerald was published in 1925， which inspired T. S. Eliot to comment in a letter to Fitzgerald， “It seems to me to be the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James ...” （Wilson）. The writer Richard Yates （1981） who had been often compared to Fitzgerald， referred to The Great Gatsby as the most nourishing novel he read for his miraculous talent and triumphal technique. Moreover， this great work has been given a high appraisal by the Modern Library of Random House polling its editorial board to find the best 100 novels of the 20th century in 1998.

Ⅱ. Review on Its Unique Narrative Techniques

Regarding the writing style， researchers have dug into the narrative art or stylistic structure of the novel and continue to take it further. From the narrative point of view， the narrator Nick’s story seems to be the main storyline throughout the book with the story of Gatsby only a part of the whole. However， in terms of the content and the focus of the novel， what happens to Gatsby is actually the main body. The very uniqueness and brilliance of the work lie in the existence of the character “Nick” half within the story and half without the story. By virtue of Nick in such a special position， two different views （including Fitzgerald’s） become united in this work （Yu， 2000）. Moreover， the novel is not limited to a single perspective， but continues to switch to different narrators and perspectives. Due to the diversified narration， the story plots， numerous characters and their complicated relationships can be presented in stereo images.

Ⅲ. Diagram of Character Relationship in The Great Gatsby

Since the launching of “Fitzgerald Revival” in American literature in the 1950s and 1960s， many literateurs， literary critics， philosophers and other researchers have made thorough studies on this novel， most of which surround the theme of “American Dream”， the tragic style and symbolic meaning of this novel. For instance， in a monograph of Lehan Richard， he carries out an analysis of the reasons for the disillusionment of the “American Dream” persistently pursued by Gatsby and reveals that Gatsby’s dream is “the dream of the times” （1990）. In addition， Bruccoli and Joseph show the bumpy course of The Great Gatsby with objective charts and clear analysis recording how the academia evaluated this novel differently when it had stricken few responsive chords among American intellectuals since its first publication in 1925， and that in the 40s， this book gradually became an undisputed classic American literature works （2007）. In general， Fitzgerald has undergone several changes in the western view and has eventually established his classical status in American literature. It develops from attaching importance to the writer’s life to the careful text analysis， and finally creating the diversified criticism pattern under the impact of the literary theory. This kind of development seems to have some enlightenment to the study of foreign literature in China.

Cpncerning the studies of this nove in China， there have been over 130 monographs and 40 dissertations and theses until now （J. G. Wu， 2016）. A Survey of American Literature （1986） by the famous scholar Dong Hengxun was a ground breaking work. Later there appeared the English version of this book introducing American literature by Chang Yaoxin （1990） and another monograph The History of American Literature in the 20th Century （2000） by Yang Renjing. Soon， Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press published four volumes of the New Edition of American Literature History （2000-2002）. In addition to the systematic studies， the number of papers concerning The Great Gatsby was about 60 from 1990 to 2000， but it skyrocketed to over 180 till 2007 according to the statistics through CNKI （S. C. Liu）.

Ⅳ. Overview of Its Popular Translations in China

Compared with his friend Hemingway， Fitzgerald began to be known in real terms by Chinese readers only in the second half of the last century and the study of In 1971， Qiao Zhigao’s translation of The Great Gatsby was first published in Hong Kong by World Today Press and that was widely and warmly accepted in Taiwan and Hong Kong， and still maintained its classical status after many reissues. Then in the Chinese mainland， Wu Ningkun， the famous translator and scholar in British and American literature， also translated this novel into Chinese and his version got published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House in 1983 for the first time. Later， these versions have been reprinted many times and up to now， China has published over 50 kinds of Chinese versions of this novel.

Generally speaking， Fitzgerald by Chinese academia has experienced a long course “from being negated to being narrowly accepted， and then to being full affirmed”（J. G. Wu，2002）. This process can be best manifested by the translation and research of The Great Gatsby in China. Professor Wu’s monograph The Study of Fitzgerald successfully gives a comprehensive introduction and commentary on the life and works of Fitzgerald， and also makes a good summary of researches on Fitzgerald’s works by Chinese academics.

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