Communication Dynamics within F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby". Communication in Modernist Literature (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2021 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Cologne, language: English, abstract: This paper explores to what extent the communication dynamics in "The Great Gatsby", published in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, are key for understanding and reinterpreting the novel, considering its contextualization in the period of Modernism. What does communication in literary texts reveal? Which kind of information do communication dynamics in literature provide? To what degree does communication in literature function as a window to the past?

"Communication is key." This phrase is well known all over the world and applies for every social interaction. It does not matter if you are a parent, a best friend, or a businesswoman to agree with this statement because communication is so important every day in every kind of relationship. It could be argued that communication is the basis of just about everything in our modern world.

"The Great Gatsby" was published in 1925 and has become one of the most popular novels in the world. Before its fame and popularity though, the novel was virtually forgotten for twenty-five years. Its revival in the early 1950s was part of the rediscovery of F. Scott Fitzgerald. The novel represents an era of excitement and is about the glamour and moral bankruptcy of the Jazz age. The title refers to a mysterious millionaire, named Jay Gatsby, who gets involved in the materialism and corruption of a mercenary society without feelings or human concerns. He struggles with the impossible task of trying to recreate his past.