A Comparative Study Of Two Chinese Versions Of The Great Gatsby From The Perspective Of Translation Ecology

Under the influence of academic trend of thought on the global eco-culture,Professor Xu Jianzhong published a monograph on translation ecology in 2009,systematically expounding translation ecology.He investigated the relation between translation activity and ecological environment,and analyzed the ecological structure and function of translation,improving translation studies from ecological approach.F.Scott Fitzgerald is known as the spokesman of the “Lost Generation” in the United States.After the First World War,the American economy experienced a transient period of prosperity,but people had no faith and lived in a spiritual wasteland.In 1925,Fitzgerald published a novel,The Great Gatsby,which vividly depicts all aspects of American life in the Jazz Age.As one of the greatest works of American literature,The Great Gatsby has been translated into Chinese since 1950 s,and its latest Chinese version,Li Jihong’s version,was published in 2013.Before that,George Kao,Wu Ningkun and Yao Naiqiang also translated this novel into Chinese respectively in 1974,1983 and 2004.As most scholars were inclined to make a comparative study of the versions of Wu Ningkun and Yao Naiqiang,the present thesis selects George Kao’s and Li Jihong’s versions as the research object so as to find out what translation strategies translators used to adapt to the ecological environment of translation.By analyzing the macroscopic and microcosmic ecology of the selected two Chinese versions,the author found that translation strategies adopted by George Kao and Li Jihong differ from each other.Under the wave of “Dollar Culture”,George Kao was inclined to adopt domestication so that readers could accept American culture and social values unconsciously.However,with relatively free and open social environment,Li Jihong preferred foreignization to reproduce the original language feature and writing style.As producers,both translators successfully accomplished the assignment and fulfilled their ecological function.