Set in a specific time and place, The Great Gatsby imposes on translators the need to take the cultural and historical context into account during the process of translation. The American and Polish cultures are different in many ways.
One of these differences, more specifically, involves the units of length. On one hand, the United States of America use the U.S. customary units which include inch, foot, yard and mile as the measurements of length. These four find application in personal and social use as well as in commercial activities. On the other hand, in Poland length is measured in accordance with the metric system where commonly used units include centimetre, metre and kilometre. In the USA there are areas in which the metric system is also employed, however it mostly …show more content…
state of Connecticut. Nick, the narrator of ‘The Great Gatsby’, while introducing himself at the beginning of the book, states that he graduated from New Haven. The word ‘graduated’ implies that he went to school in the city of New Haven, yet does not say which school until the mention of ‘Yale News’ and ‘Yale Club’ on the next pages of the novel.
Demkowska-Bohdziewicz made a decision to follow the method of ‘descriptive equivalent’ and provide the full name of the school at the first opportunity she had. American readers might not have a problem with associating New Haven with one of the most prestigious universities in their country however the Polish reader, in 1962, might not have known what schools were located in that particular city.
Dehnel followed the path of a ‘functional equivalent’ and replaced ‘New Haven’ with ‘Yale’. In the XXI century people are more familiar with the American culture because of the mainstream media and have little problems with understanding to what the ‘Yale’ refers. That might not be the case with ‘New Haven’, for modern people may know the name of a well-known university but they do not always know where it is
One of these differences, more specifically, involves the units of length. On one hand, the United States of America use the U.S. customary units which include inch, foot, yard and mile as the measurements of length. These four find application in personal and social use as well as in commercial activities. On the other hand, in Poland length is measured in accordance with the metric system where commonly used units include centimetre, metre and kilometre. In the USA there are areas in which the metric system is also employed, however it mostly …show more content…
state of Connecticut. Nick, the narrator of ‘The Great Gatsby’, while introducing himself at the beginning of the book, states that he graduated from New Haven. The word ‘graduated’ implies that he went to school in the city of New Haven, yet does not say which school until the mention of ‘Yale News’ and ‘Yale Club’ on the next pages of the novel.
Demkowska-Bohdziewicz made a decision to follow the method of ‘descriptive equivalent’ and provide the full name of the school at the first opportunity she had. American readers might not have a problem with associating New Haven with one of the most prestigious universities in their country however the Polish reader, in 1962, might not have known what schools were located in that particular city.
Dehnel followed the path of a ‘functional equivalent’ and replaced ‘New Haven’ with ‘Yale’. In the XXI century people are more familiar with the American culture because of the mainstream media and have little problems with understanding to what the ‘Yale’ refers. That might not be the case with ‘New Haven’, for modern people may know the name of a well-known university but they do not always know where it is