【精品】论文3稿.doc

【精品】论文3稿 I.Introduction With the developmentof reformand openingup,China has attracted agreat numberof foreigntourists,many ofwhom areinterested in Chinese culture,especially Chinese food.Therefore,a goodtranslation of Chinese dish names seems to be of greatimportance.The dietary culture inChina has a longhistory.Chinese dishes are famousnot onlyfor itscolor,aroma and flavor,but alsofor itsbrilliant culinaryart.Chinese dish names,as an important part of Chinese dietary culture,are alsovaried andgraceful.Chinesedietculture laysemphasis onits dish names which contain not only fact-telling names，but alsonames withmetaphors,including boththe profoundhistorical andcultural backgroundand folkand localcustoms.Some dish names areno longerjust asingle name,but anenjoyment of art;and somedish nameseven contain an ancientsad songor atouching legend.For example:“珍珠粥”es from an hungryemperor whohad metwith misfortuneand hadnothing toeat butcorn porridge;“鸿门宴”is madewith crabspawn andedible birds nest,symbolizing thebattle betweenChu andHan;“过桥米线”reflects lovebetween wifeand husband;and“东坡肉”，“叫化鸡”，“桃园三结义”，“狗不理包子”etc,all ofwhichcontainthick culturalimplications.The translation of Chinese dish names,which is a kindof cross-cultural munication,has closeconnection withculture.Nida oncesaid:“Translation ismunication”(Nida43).Therefore,when doing the translation,the influencesof suchelements aslanguage,religion,value concept,living attitude,degree ofmaterial civilization,foreign culture,history andcustom should be fullytaken into aount.On theone hand,ways should be foundto explain the dishs raw materials andcooking style,which is the coreof the translation of Chinese dish names(吴伟雄，33).On theother hand,the translatorsshould revealto foreignersthe delightand implicationsof Chinesedietaryculture and payattention to the diversityof differentcultures.The translation of Chinese dish namesis challengingand yetnecessary.If theycannot be translated correctly,the foreignerswho areinterested inChinese foodwill bepuzzled,bored or even frightenedaway bythose names which couldhave offeredthem thesupreme enjoyment,or they will beshocked to find what they haveordered doesnot turnout to be what they want.In orderto solvethis challengingand importanttask,this thesis attempts todiscuss theways of translating Chinese dish names from the cultural perspective,and summarizethe requirements for aC-E translatorand putforward ways of translatingdifferent kinds of Chinese dish names.This thesiswill firststate the characteristics ofboth Western dish names and Chinese dish names.On thebasis of analyzing thecharacteristics of Chinese dish names andWestern dish names,this thesises upwith thecharacteristics of the translation of Chinese dish names and therequirementsfor translators.Finally,the paperputs forwardfive methods of translating Chinese dish names,which areliteral translation,free translation,free translation with an explanation,the binationof literal translation and free translation,and transliteration with an explanation.II.Analysis of Chinese Dish Names inTerms ofTheir CulturalConstituents Chinais verydifferent from Western countriesin termsof artand thoughtpatterns.The Chinesealways focuson artistionception whilethe Westernpeople seekfacts.This kindof diversitymakes Chinese culture verydifferent fromthat ofWestern countries.In termsof cuisineculture,the diversityalso leadsto thedifferences betweenChinese dish names andWestern dish names.A.Characteristics ofWestern dish names TheWesterndish names alwaysdirectly showpeople the raw materialsand the cooking method(周致欣、廉晓洁，5).For example:“grilled lemonpolenta”,“roasted tunaand redsnapper”,“mustard seedsauce”,“wok friedpork”,“leaf spinachwith freshherbs”,“veal loinand filletof beefetc”.These dish names eitherreflect the dishesraw materialsor show their cooking methods.B.Characteristics of Chinese dish names DifferentfromWesterndish names,Chinese disheshave specialnames whichreflect theextensive andprofound Chinese culture.The Chinese dish namesin this thesis areclassified intoseven groups.1.Fact-telling namesMost of the names of Chinese dishes arefact-telling oneswhich actuallydescribe theingredients,cooking methodsand flavorsof the dishes.While someof the names consistof allof theabove-mentioned factors,some onlyprise oneor two,so readerscan understand them withoutany difficulties.For instance,“烤乳猪”(Roast Piglet)，“青椒肉丝”(Shredded Pork with GreenPepper).2.Rhetorical namesMetaphors,which areusually usedinChinese dish names,can conveythe advantagesof pleasantness,expressiveness andvividness.“The Chinese dish namesfrequently usedthe rhetoricdevices,which aresimple,metaphor,personification and so on”(Newmark51).Typical examplesare“茶壶鸡”using metaphor(It paresthe chickento the shape ofa teapot)and“它似蜜”using simile(It paresthe sweetflavor ofthis dishto“蜜”).3.Names with a specific place involvedThis kindof dish names alwaysreflect thelocal flavorsand specialities,such as“徽州蒸鸡”which reflectsHuizhous localflavor;“北京烤鸭”,showing readersthe cookingstyle ofBeijing.4.Names related toalegend/allusion/person Thesedish names are closelyrelated to Chinese traditions,beliefs,allusions,legends orhistory.To Chinesepeople,such kindof namesinclude abundantcultural imageswith aestheticvalue.For example,“霸王别姬”,“佛跳墙”,“龙凤配”,“过桥米线”,“东坡肉”,“麻婆豆腐”andso on.5.Auspicious namesThis kindof dish names servethe purpose of expressingbest wishesand expectationssince Chinesepeople likeauspicious names.These namese from a person,a placeorevena dish.“发财好市”and“百年好合”are casesin point.6.Names includingherbs Chinesemedicinal cuisiakes upa specialplace inChinese culture.People haveput herbsinto cuisineingredients andmade theminto deliciousmedicated foodssince ancienttimes.Nowadays,people areincreasingly awareof thefunctions that the medicinalcuisine playsin maintaininghealth,extending theirlives,and curingdiseases.The namesof medicateddishesaremade upwith herbnamesandother mainingredientsnames.Analogous examplesare“清蒸虫草鸽”,“西洋参炖鸡”,“双鞭壮阳汤”,and“杜仲腰花”.7.Names with Chinese characteristicsSuch kindof dish names aredisplayed with Chinese-owned characteristics.In other words,they aretypically culture-loaded dishes,such as“饺子”,“油条”,“包子”,“烧卖”,and“麻花”.They areunique toChinese language and culture.Chinesedish names havethe informative,expressive andvocative functions.They havetheir ownfeatures,which deservecareful investigationand considerationfrom the translators.An excellenttranslation of the dish names wouldundoubtedly contributea lotto thesuess andpopularity of the Chinesedishes.Translators mustpay moreattention to the featuresof Chinesedish names.III.Characteristics of the Translationof ChineseDish Namesand ItsRequirements forTranslators SinceChinesedish names haveso many cultural elementsand awide diversitywith Westerndish names,their translationhave beenattached specialcharacteristics and thus somerequirements arisefor translators.A.Characteristics of the translation of Chinesedish namesFirst,the translation should clearlystate theraw materials of the dish.The Westernersemphasize thatthe translation of Chinesedish nameshad bettershow therealities.An interviewwas conductedwith anAmerican ladywho haslived inChina forseveral years.The ladywas askedto express her opinionabout the English translations of Chinesedishnamesin theappendix table.She suggestedthe translationsshould bedirect andclear toshow whatforeigners want to know.With regardto thedifferences betweenthe translationsin mainlandChina andWestern countries,she thoughtthat inWestern countriesthe translationsare morerelatedto the thingsin thefood,which aredifferent fromthe translationsdone inChina(Cong1).Based onherwords,translators canhave anidea ofwhat ismore important for foreignersin the translation of Chinesedishnames.The foreignerswanttoknow clearlywhat theyare eating.This iswhy overseasrestaurants havethe menuswith clearinformation.For thisreason sometranslators suggestthat translatingChinesedishnames intoEnglish shouldprovide adequateinformation first.At leastthe materialsand methodsused forcooking the dish must be clearlystated in the namesof the dishes.This isanimportantcharacteristic of the translation of dishnames.Second,faithfulness should be observed.Faithfulness isthe mostimportant elementin translation.Most offamous Chinesetranslators,such asYan Fu,Lu Xun,Lin Yutangand LiuZhongde putfaithfulness in the first place.That isto say,the translationmust befaithful tothe original text itself.There aredishnamesthat cannotbe translated as thelady saysabove,otherwise therule offaithfulness wouldbe brokenand the cultural informationimplied inChinesedishnames wouldbe lost.For example,“佛跳墙”was translatedpreviously as“Assorted Meat and VegetablesCooked inEmbers”.This kindof translation will surelymake foreignersclearly knowwhattheyeat,but theconnotative Chinese culture and the attractivenessof the dishnamesdisappear,making itunfaithful tothe originaltext.As Newmarksays,“The mainaim of translation isto passon informationfaithfully”(Newmark1).It meansthe originalmessage should be conveyedfaithfully tothe targetreaders so that theycan getthe samefeeling with the originallanguage readers.Third,it should benefit theSino-foreign munication.The translation of Chinesedishnamesaim toserve munication.It isa wayfor Chineseto make the Westerntourists understand Chinesedishnames.Therefore,the translationmust conformto foreignerscultural tradition.In otherwords,the translationshould bebrief andshowthematerialsof the dishesas muchas possibleso thathe foreignerscan immediatelyunderstand themand knowabout Chinesedishes(郑锦怀，1).Moreover,as animportant partof Sino-foreign culturalmunication,the translation of Chinesedishnamesmust servethe purpose of spreadingChineseculture.That meansthe translationmust makethe culturalconnotations in the dishnames knownby the foreigners.In the translation process,some necessaryand feasibleintroductions can be addedaording tothe objectivesituations such as time,place etc,sothattheforeigntourists canunderstand therich cultural elements embedded in the namesof thedishes,and knowmore aboutChina.B.Requirements for the translatorsin translatingthe namesof the ChinesedishesThe above-mentioned fourcharacteristics of the translationof Chinesedishnamespose abig challengefor the translators.In orderto doa suessfultranslationof Chinesedishnames,the translatorsmust fulfillthe followingrequirements.First,the understandingof Chinesedishes,including theirfeatures,cookingmethods,rawmaterialsused,and especiallythe threeelements of thedishes,that is,color,aroma,andflavor,is very importantfor the translationof Chinesedishnames(Cong2).Second,both a translators linguistiompetence andcultural knowledgeplay a veryimportant role in the process of translation.For thetranslation relatesnot onlyto language,but alsoto culture.A translatorshould constantlypare thetwo kinds of culture,because a true equivalencein twolanguages mustbe equivalentin implications,functions,scope,emotional colorand influencesof eachculture.A translatormustbe atruecultural person.Maybe aperson hasmastered twokindsoflanguages,but withoutthe understandingoftheculturalelementsembeddedinlanguage,no onecan doa translationwell.Concerning thecultural disparities,thetranslatorshould adoptthe properstrategies soas tomake hisversion moreunderstandable andaeptable.IV.Methods ofTranslating ChineseDish NamesAfter a brief introductiontothecharacteristics ofthetranslationof Chinesedishnames,five translationstrategies arepresented inthis chapter.They are:literal translation,literal translationwith an explanation,free translation,free translationwith an explanation andtransliterationwith an explanation.A.Literal translationLiteral translation,also calledword-for-word translation,is ideallythe segmentationofthe source languagetext intoindividual wordsand target language renderingof thoseword-segments oneatatime(张乐辉,39).If thetranslation whichhas thesame formwith the originaltextcan express the similarcontents,it can be translated literally;If themode ofexpressive ofthe source text ismore powerfuland auratethan that ofthe target text,thetranslatorcan adoptliteral translation,but heshould observethe principleof“faithfulness and smoothness”（连淑能,12）.Newmark believes“The mainpurposeofthe informativetext isto provideinformation,so itshould emphasizethereality”(Newmark2).The translationofChinesedishnamesbelongs tothatofthe informativetext.The thingthat readerspay mostattention toisthematerials theyeat,thedishs flavor,thecookingmethod andsoon.Therefore,a translatorshould firstfaithfully statetherawmaterials,ingredients,flavor andcooking procedures.This wayof translation is suitablefor thefact-telling names,for suchnames can expressthedishes aurately and powerfullyand givethe readerswhattheyneed.Here aresome examples:海米白菜Chinese Cabbagewith Dried玉米肉丸meatball withcorn炖牛肉Stewed Beef涮羊肉Instant-Boiled Mutton盐水虾Boiled Shrimpsin SaltWater奶油烧鱼Braised Fishwith ButterSauce葱爆肉Sauted SlicedPorkwithOnion Shred脆皮鸡Crispy Chicken酸辣蹄筋Vinegar-Peppered BeefTendon鱼香肉丝Fish-Flavored ShreddedPork砂锅鱼头Fish Handin Casserole毛肚火锅Ox Tripein HotPot铁板牛柳Sliced VealFried onIron PlateB.Literal translationwith anexplanation Theconcept of literal translationwith anexplanation andfree translationwith anexplanation areintroduced bothas translationstrategies forovering theunbridgeable differencebetween languages,and asmeans ofsafeguarding thegeneral validityof translatabilityas thetheoretical cornerstoneoftranslation(张乐辉,42).Based onthis theory,literal translationwith anexplanation can be usedin translatingthe names containing apersons name.As thistype of dishnamescontainagreat dealof backgroundinformation whichChinese canunderstand andenjoy butthe foreignerscan hardlydo.A simpleliteral translationcannot adequatelyexpress it.Thus addingafter themabriefintroduction ofthe personand therelevant historicalevent shouldbe agood choice.Due tothe limitedspace ofthe menu,the parativelyshort versioncan be given in the bodypartofthe menuand theexplanation canbe putinthefootnotes ofthe menu.Here aretwo similarexamples:“麻婆豆腐”-“Pock-marked Grandmas BeanCurd(invented by the womanwith apockmarked faceoftheQing dynasty).”This dishis oneofthemost famousdishes fromSichuan.Mrs Chen,who apparentlywas scarredwith pockmarks onher face,was saidto be the wifeofachef butitsherbean-curd dish,with itslingering spicyand slightlynumbing aftertastethat hasearned hera solidcelebrity status.This dishis madewith softtextured bean-curd thatis difficult to findoutside Asia.The intensityof itsflavor isusually enhancedby tinyleeks.It isa richand warmdish onchilly winterevenings.“宫保鸡丁”-Kung Pao Chicken(spicy dicedchicken inventedby officerKung PaointheQing dynasty).”It wasnamed aftera courtofficial Ding Baozhen inthe lateQing dynasty(1616-1911).Legend hasit thatMr.Ding,a gourmet,often treatedhis gueststo thisdish.While in Sichuan,where thelocal peopleliked hotchilies,Ding improvedhis favoritedish“stir-fried dicedchicken”by addingchili peppertotheingredients,which makesthedishtaste moredelicious.Since Dingwas latergranted thetitle Taizi Shaobao,which literallymeans“protector ofthe crownprince”,by theimperial court,he wasalso referredto asKung Pao,which wasshort forTaiziShaobao.In memoryof Mr.DingBaozhen,people namedhis favoritedish KungPaoChicken.C.Free translationFree translationemphasizes thetransfer ofthe meaningor“spirit”ofasourcetextover auratereproduction ofthe originalwording.The purposeof free translation isto aommodatethe needsofthe target languagereader byproducing atext whichconforms tothe linguisticand textualnorms ofthetargetlanguageand cultureandwhich doesnot thereforesound“foreign” (49).If thereis contradictionbetween faithfulnessandsmoothness,faithfulness shouldbe putinthefirstplace;if the form ofthetranslationcanexpressinformation more auratelyandpowerfully,it canbe translated freely(连淑能,12).Some Chinesedishnamesthat containspecial Chineseculture cannotbe foundin English-language culture.Translators cannotfind thesuitable expressions.Here,forthepurposeofseeking theexpressiveness ofthetargettext,the vividpart thatcontains Chineseculture shouldbegivenup,and theimage andemotional colorhiding inthenamesshouldbeomitted.In termsofthemetaphorical names,some partsof suchnames alwaysstand forinteresting things.When suchnames as“翡翠羹”and“牡丹鲜虾片”are literallytranslated into“Green JadeSoup”and“Fried ShelledShrimp withPeony”,they willsound confusingand ridiculous.From theperspective ofinter-lingual andintercultural munication,theculturalelements had better beabandoned andexpressiveness shouldbe emphasized.The bestway to deal withsuchacase isto translate the factualpart literallyand thefigurative partfreely.In thisway,“翡翠羹”shouldbetranslatedas“vegetable soup”and“牡丹鲜虾仁片”as“Fried ShelledShrimp withGrab Roe”.The othercase ofmetaphorical namesis thatthe mainingredient ispared with theshape of ananimal,an objector anythingbeautiful.In ordernot toignore themetaphorical content,the word“shape”or phrase“intheshape of”canbeused.For example:荷花鱼肚-Lotus-flower-shaped FishMaw;雀巢鱼翅-Sharks FinsintheshapeofBirds Nest;葫芦八宝鸭-Gourd-shaped Duckwith AssortedStuffing.Some nameswith aspecificplaceinvolved shouldalso betranslatedfreely,because Chinesepeople canunderstand thespecial flavorthrough the place namesinvolved inthedishnames,while foreignerscan hardlyunderstand themif suchnames aretranslatedliterally.Some namesin whichtheplaceor theirflavor iswell-known canbetranslatedliterally.For example,北京烤鸭Beijing RoastDuck蒙古烤肉Mongolian Barbecue徽州蒸鸡Steamed Chicken,Huizhou style湘味牛肉丝Sliced Beef,Hunan style连云对虾Prawns,Lianyungang styleD.Free translationwith anexplanation Free translationwith anexplanationis veryoften usedfor idiomswithaheavy culturalload.In caseswhere bothliteral andfree translationcannot getthe meaningacross tothe readers,anexplanation(often intheformof glossesin brackets)bees auseful supplementarytechnique tomakethemeaning intelligible(He,Jing2).To Chinesepe