浅谈中文菜名的跨文化英文翻译

A Study on the Cross-cultural English Translation of Chinese Dishes浅谈中文菜名的跨文化英文翻译Abstract: There are many differences between eastern and western diet cultures. As one of the world ancient nations, its diet has a history almost as long as that of Chinese civilization. Chinese cuisine holds a highly important position in Chinese culture. As one of the famous international tourism countries, China welcome more and more foreigners to go sightseeing here. Correct and elegant translation of dish names plays an important role in promoting the image to international world as visitors from different cultural backgrounds are increasing.Its diet culture has also been getting rich gradually, which makes English translation of Chinese menu more difficult. Therefore it is needed to surmount double barriers to language and culture between eastern and western diet. In order to let foreigners understand and accept the name of Chinese dish, there are some criteria that we must followed when translating. Based on these aspects, some translation principles and methods will be discussed in this theses.Key words: Chinese dishes, diet culture, translation principles, translation methods摘要: 中西方文化存在着许多差异。中国，作为世界文明古国之一，其饮食历史几乎和中国文化一样源远流长。在中国文化中，中国菜拥有一个高度重要的地位。作为一个著名的国际旅游的国家,中国欢迎越来越多的外国人来这里观光。正确和高雅的中餐菜名翻译可以给来自世界不同文化背景的游客树立中国的良好形象。它的饮食文化日渐丰富，使得中餐菜谱的翻译越加困难。因此，我们需要克服中西方文化和语言的双重障碍。为了让国外朋友理解并且接受中餐菜名，在翻译过程中我们必须遵循一些标准。基于此，这篇文章提供了一些翻译原则和方法。关键词: 中国菜肴 饮食文化 翻译原则 翻译方法ContentsIntroduction11. Differences between Chinese and Western diet Cultures.21.1. the Difference between Chinese and Western Diet Idea.21.2. the Difference between Chinese and Western Food Objects. 21.3. the Difference between Chinese and Western Dishes Naming.22. the Naming Methods of Chinese Cuisine.23.Chinese Dishes Translation Principles.33.1. Faithfulness to the Original Dish Names.33.2. Deep-understanding of the Original Dish Names.33.3. Taking Cultural Factors into Consideration.43.4. Keeping Aesthetic Values Transmitted54. Chinese Dishes Translation Skill.54.1. Literal Translation.54.1.1. Dish Names without Cookeries.64.1.2. Dish Names Concerning Cultural Background74.1.2.1. Dish Names Concerning Peoples Names.74.1.2.2. Dish Names Concerning Places.84.1.2.3. Dish Names Concerning Numbers.94.1.2.4. Dish Names Concerning Auspiciousness94.2. Liberal Translation.104.2.1. Dish Names Concerning Chinese Local Jargon.104.2.2. Dish Names Concerning Chinese Medicinal Foods.114.2.3. Dish Names Concerning Chinese Legends or Poems.114.3. Transliteration.125 . Conclusion.13Bibliography.13IntroductionChinese diet culture is an important part of Chinese historical culture, which is famous for its variety and abundance. As China has intensified its communication with the rest of the world, more and more foreign tourists would like to visit China and they enjoy Chinese food a lot. Meanwhile, foreign tourists also want to know more about the literal as well as the inner meaning of names of the dishes, and also how and with what raw materials the Chinese dishes are cooked. Therefore, the accurate translation of Chinese dishes into English is a key to the spread of Chinese diet culture. To translate Chinese dishes into English is not only the linguistic transference but also the transference at the cultural level.【Chinese Dishes Translating and Chinese Diet Culture LIU Xuanchuan (College of Liberal Arts, Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, Hubei, China) 】This paper aims to undertake a systematic study of English translation of Chinese dish names from a cultural aspect. It presents some related information of Chinese cuisine culture and characteristic of Chinese cuisine culture. It then points out differences between Chinese and western cuisine cultures. Then, principles and methods of translation are mentioned in detail,including literal translation,liberal translation and transliteration ,etc. The translator should choose suitable translation methods according to the cultural factors. At last,it is suggested that cultural awareness regarding translation processes should be promoted so that the services of catering and tourism commodities will be improved and the cuisine culture will get lasting prosperity.It is a breakthrough in this field that Bassnett and Lefevere proposed the “cultural turn” in translation studies. From then on, many scholars at home and abroad work on this field. Hence, the translators take cultural factors into consideration while translating and fast-growing development in cultural translation could be seen. David Katan (1999) stated the relationship between culture and translation as “the words culture and translation are being increasingly linked. Culture plays an important role in translation. Due to the close tie between language and culture. the cultural connotation can not be ignored in translating process. The cultural connotation in the original text should be transferred into target text as exactly as possible. Of course, in the trend of “cultural turn”, translation can not neglect the linguistic study for the close relationship between language and culture. Cultural translation, on one hand, focuses on cultural source of language, politics, economic, society, and some other cultural backgrounds; on the other hand, it also centers on the linguistic matters. Meanwhile, there are some other tendencies in translation studies: one argues that translation theory is branded with communication; the other proposes that more attention should be paid to culture transference.“ Translation is not merely a mirror branch of comparative literary study, not yet a specific area of linguistics, but a vastly complex field with many far-reaching ramifications ” ( Bassnet, 1980:1 ), and furthermore the process of translation is not merely a linguistic one but a complicated process which involves a whole set of extra linguistic criteria also” ( Bassnett, 1980: 13 ).1. Differences between Chinese and Western Diet Cultures.1.1 . the Difference between Chinese and Western Diet IdeaChinese diet idea is the five senses being well distributed and western diet idea is the individuality to be prominent.There is a folk saying “ food is the paramount necessity of people, taste is the priority of eating ” . Chinese cuisines are famous for their excellence in color, aroma and taste. Chinese usually pay more attention on the color, aroma and taste of cuisine. They are the standard of a dish as well as a dinner.However, western countries emphasizes on the reasonable food concept. When they are dining, they basically care more about the nutrition of the food.1.2 . the Difference between Chinese and Western Food ObjectsSomeone called Chinese the plant disposition, the western person the animal disposition according to the different diet objects of eastern and western. Although this saying is not correct but reasonable in some way. Westerners think the food can make them feel full. Therefore, they eat large piece of meat. However, Chinese rely on the taste so the Chinese cooking style is known for its wide variety of ingredients.1.3 . the Difference Between Chinese and Western Dishes NamingThe naming of Chinese food is very complicated.Chinese dish names not only reflect a great deal of ingredients, cooking methods, taste, appearance, aroma, color of the dishes, but also reflect some culture elements such as the dish creators, stories, places, legends, which combines more association.On the other hand, western dishes naming is relatively straightforward. They highlight the raw material. It is less artistic but more functional.2. the Naming Methods of Chinese CuisineThere has been a wide variety of Chinese food dishes, the name of the dish also extremely rich. The naming methods of Chinese dish is strict and distinctly different. There are two main approaches: realistic and the impressionistic style of romanticism. The former includes the name of raw materials, the way of cutting, cooking methods, cuisine color, smell, taste and the founder, the birthplace of the dishes or historical stories, which reflects the content and features of dishes. The latter means using allusion, metaphor, hyperbole, and symbolism in a variety of ways to make the name of the dish is not only beautiful but also vivid. This kind of name is neither to reflect the raw materials, nor to reflect the cooking method. It reflects the profound meaning of the dishes and the special traditional Chinese food culture.3.Chinese Dishes Translation PrinciplesAs China has become one of the international tourism countries, more attention is focused on Chinese cuisine. However, the current English translation of Chinese menu is unsatisfactory, which makes it uneasy for the foreign tourists to get correct understanding of the dishes. It is necessary to discuss the suggested principles for English translation of Chinese dish names.The famous American translator Dr. Eugene Nida wrote a book named Towards a Science of Translation, which is regarded as one of his representative works. He laid down the following fundamental:1. True to the original2. Vivid3. Smooth and natural4. Equivalence of responseOf these fundamentals, the last one is the key point. The so-called equivalence of response means that a good translation can call forth the response of its readers equivalent to that of the readers of the original work. The influence of his theory was so great in China that almost every translator thought of it as true and heatedly discussed it. But after a long-time discussion, they began to doubt its feasibility and to criticize it. This is because it overestimates translators abilities in understanding cultures between both languages, neglects readers differences in recognizing things, neglects the effect of transplanting in translation, confuses direct communication with indirect communication, and denies the features of different styles in writing. Despite the variety of opinions, the following criteria in the translation of dish names are almost unanimously accepted and followed, namely, the criteria of faithfulness, smoothness, expressiveness, etc.3.1. Faithfulness to the Original Dish NamesThis criterion is the most important one because translation tries to match the receptor language message with the source language message, and the relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that between the original receptor and the message. As to the dish names, the translations must be informative because the target language receptors have the right to know what ingredients, what cooking ways and what flavors are. For example “ 仔姜烧鸡条 ” the main ingredients “ chicken fillet and tender ginger ” and the cooking method “ braised ” should be shown in the form of “ braised chicken fillet with tender ginger ” and “ 清炖猪蹄 ” would be “ stewed pig hoof in clean soup ” with “ pig hoof as the main ingredient and “ stewed ” as the cooking way. Hence, it is necessary to get a deep understanding of the dish before translation.3.2. Deep-understanding of the Original Dish NamesWithout good understanding of the dish names, there will be no faithful translation. It is an important step for a successful translation. The translators should know the main ingredients, cutting skills and cooking methods well. Cutting styles, as one of important components in Chinese culinary art, has been laid great emphasis on in China. Almost 40 ways of cutting have been put into practice. In these way, the raw materials can be turned into many kinds of shapes and size, such as slicing (切片) , shredding (切丝) , filleting (切柳) , cubing/dicing (切块) , mincing (切成末) , grinding (碾碎) , stuffing (酿) , flaking (切薄片) , cutting into pieces (切段) , cutting into strap (切条) , ball (捏成球形) , etc. The Chinese prepare their dishes with different cooking methods:1. fry (炒)Cooking something in boiling oil is frying, which can be divided into pan-frying (煎) , stir-frying (炒) and deep-frying (炸). These three types of frying are divided according to the amount of oil. eg. pan-fried salt fish (煎咸鱼) , stir-fried chicken (炒鸡丝) , deep-fried spring rolls (炸春卷). The amount of oil used in the dish are increasing one by one from the first dish to the last.2. braise (烧).Braising refers to cooking meat or vegetables slowly with gravy or other soup in a closed container until the meat turns brown. e.g. braise pork balls (红烧狮子头), braise pork with brown sauce (红烧猪肉), braise turtle in clear water (清烧甲鱼).3. roast,barbecued (烤).Roasting means cooking in an oven or by exposure to open heat. e.g. roast suckling pig (烤乳猪)4. stew,simmered (炖,焖) Stewing usually means cooking fish, meat, vegetables, etc. slowly in simmering water, gravy or mixed ingredients in a closed container. e.g. stewed bamboo shoots with soy sauce (油焖竹笋)5. steamed（蒸）.Steaming means the food is cooked in steam. It is a frequently used cooking method. e.g. steamed chicken with mushrooms (香菇蒸鸡), steam Yellow River carp (清蒸黄河鱼).6. scalded (白灼). Scalding refer to putting the slices, shreds or pieces of ingredients in seasoned boiling water. Then boil them for a while. e.g. scalded shrimps (白灼虾)As a translator, he has to do his best to find the semantic equivalence in cooking methods.3.3. Taking Cultural Factors into ConsiderationIn the above chapters, the relationship between translation and culture has been discussed. The work of translating is not just one language to language, but a transfer of two cultures. It is regarded as the intercultural communication. As to Chinese dish names, many of those are in cultural-loaded words or with historical stories, which require translators to heighten their cultural awareness. The methods of informative and aesthetic methods should be used for translation. For instance, “ 乳猪全体 ” is translated as “ Whole Suckling Pig ”. From this case, the cooking method and background information are lost. In Hainan, there is a traditional wedding custom that if it is normal after wedding for three days, the son-in-law should prepare a complete roast suckling pig and take it to the father-in-laws house personally. But if the bridegroom find his bride is not a virgin before wedding, he will not take the roast suckling pig to the father-in-laws house. Of course, it means the bride will not have a happy marriage. So this dish means perfect and happiness. So it would be appropriate to translate it into “Perfect Roast Suckling Pig” which conveys the cultural factors better.3.4. Keeping Aesthetic Values TransmittedAn artistically enjoyable dish name will touch the readers hearts in the mood of happiness, curiosity and excitement. Good dish names would acquire the aesthetic function, too. Therefore, the dish translations should be equally or approximately functional in transmitting the aesthetic value. Only the translations are in conformity with commercial equivalence, attractive, and aesthetically pleasant, could the translation of dish names achieve the same or similar commercial function as the original name. Hence, it is essential for translators to try their best to keep the original beautiful image. For an auspicious name “ 全家福 ” , it is usually translated into “ happy family ” - a combination of shrimps, pork, beef, chicken, lobster and mixed vegetables with brown sauce. This dish is combined with many materials which means family gathering. People will feel happy in this case. So “ happy family ” is a good translation. For another dish name, “ 发财添大利 ” in which “ 发财 (get a fortune) ” is the homophone of its ingredient “ 发菜 (Mosses) ”. If it plainly translated into stewed mosses with egg and egg roll, the wish of “ get a fortune ” would be lost. So it is suggested to translate it into “ wealth mosses with egg and egg roll ”.4. Chinese Dishes Translation SkillAfter understanding the dishes translation principles, we should try to follow these principles. However, we need to notice the real conditions and adopt timely changing instead of simply translating mechanically. Otherwise the poor translation may become an international joke. Due to the huge difference between Chinese and English, we should put the raw materials of dishes, cooking methods, dishes taste and shape in the first consideration in Chinese-English translation. If it is necessary, we need to add some information such as the cultural meaning behind some dishes names. So that customers can feel clear with that at first when they open the menu. There are three different translation skills - literal translation, liberal translation and transliteration.4.1. Literal TranslationAs we all know that the most two basic translation techniques are literal translation and liberal translation. If the same conceptual metaphor is being used in the two cultures and there exist the same or similar images, people usually use literal translation. Literal translation can efficiently keep the original images of the Chinese culture, which helps to introduce the Chinese culture to English readers.Examples:鱼圆烧海参stewed sea cucumbers with fish balls鸡翼鲍鱼片braised abalone with chicken wings洋葱牛肉丝fried shredded beef with onion荷叶粉蒸肉steamed flour-coated pork wrapped in