JHASS
Translating Culture-Loaded Expressions in The Great Gatsby: A Case Study from the Perspective of Newmark’s Communicative Translation Theory
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Abstract
Culturally marked language creates a persistent difficulty for literary translators because a compact expression may carry social history, interpersonal nuance, and symbolic force at the same time. This paper considers that problem in the Chinese translation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Newmark’s Communicative Translation Theory provides the analytical point of departure, but the discussion proceeds from five textual cases rather than from theory alone: “old sport,” “bootlegger,” “yellow cocktail music,” “the green light,” and the paired place names “West Egg” and “East Egg.” The analysis distinguishes choices that clarify an unfamiliar reference from choices that deliberately leave a symbol open to interpretation. It finds that colloquial address and Prohibition-era vocabulary generally require functional reformulation, whereas recurrent images and invented geography gain force when their wording remains stable across the narrative. Communicative translation is therefore most useful here as a principle of judgment, not as a fixed procedure: it helps the translator decide when explanation assists Chinese readers and when restraint better preserves Fitzgerald’s style and thematic ambiguity.
Keywords
The Great Gatsby; culture-loaded expressions; communicative translation; translation strategies
References
Fitzgerald, F. S. (2004). The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner.
Li, S. (2023). An analysis of cross-language and cultural issues in English translation. International Journal of New De-velopments in Education, 5(4), 6-9.
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Liang, Y. (2023). Based on cultural differences between China and the West: A study on English translation techniques. Journal of Educational Research and Policies, 5(11), 95-97.
Newmark, P. (1981). Approaches to translation. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation. New York: Prentice Hall.
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https://doi.org/10.30560/hssr.v7n3p99
How to cite this paper
Translating Culture-Loaded Expressions in The Great Gatsby: A Case Study from the Perspective of Newmark’s Communicative Translation Theory
How to cite this paper: Jiachen Du. (2026) Translating Culture-Loaded Expressions in The Great Gatsby: A Case Study from the Perspective of Newmark’s Communicative Translation Theorys. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, 10(9), 1039-1042.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.09.002
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