中国菜名的翻译策略

to think of translation as a process which occurs between languages. Skopos Theory, Thick Translation and Translational Action are all examples of this type of approach.

In other words, a cross-cultural translation is one in which additions are made which cannot be directly derived from the original ST wording; these might take the form of ideas culturally foreign to ST, or even elements which are simply included to provide necessary background information.

3.2 Cultural Connotation Embodied in Chinese Dish Names

In the following, we’ll discuss the translation of Chinese dish names. Eating is also a culture. All individuals must eat in order to survive—but what people eat, when they eat, and the manners in which they eat are all patterned by culture.

Chinese dishes are known for their variety and abundance. As one part of our country’s culture, Chinese dish has a long history and rich culture essences. Many cultural connotations are embodied in Chinese dish names. Some interesting stories or legendary stories are contained in the background of a dish name. Furthermore, some special dish names have become a symbol of city or our country.

Take “Beijing roast duck” for example. It is a carefully prepared dish. Selected ducks are fed at regular intervals so that they will gain more flesh. The ducks

are roasted slowly so that the skin becomes crispy and brown, and the flesh juicy and tender. To eat them, the meat is carefully cut into bite-sized pieces and accompanied by a special Chinese sauce with spring onion, which is then rolled in paper-thin pan cakes before eaten. This dish has become a symbol food of Beijing or even our country. Most foreigners all taste it when they come to

Take “Beggar’s Chicken” for another example. We called this dish “Beggar’s Chicken” for there is an interesting story. A beggar stole a chicken and kindled a fire by a river bank to eat it. Before it was finished cooking, he heard his pursuers. He doused the fire and buried the chicken in the ground, hoping to come back to it later. He did, dug it up, and found it to be quite succulent. So “Beggar’s Chicken” is added to the list of Chinese dishes. ( 陈小慰，2006：221)

In order to deliver more information to readers, translators often add some background information to Chinese dish names, it also sounds interesting for foreigners.

4 Strategies for the Translation of Chinese Dish Name

Translation is an art, a bilingual art, which is considered as the cultural bridge and media between two languages. As there exist wide differences in vocabulary and

culture between

4.1 Literal Translation

Literal translation can be defined in linguistics as translation “made on a level lower than is sufficient to convey the content unchanged while observing TL norms”. (Bark hudarov, 1969:10 ). In a similar vein Catford also offers a definition based on the notion of the UNIT OF TRANSLATION: he argues that literal translation takes world-for-world translation as its starting point, although because of the necessity of confirming to TL grammar, the final TT may also display group-group or clause-clause equivalence. (1965:25)

In translating Chinese dish names, by literal translation, the translator can keep the original form of Chinese dish names without causing confusion in meaning. What’s more, it introduces the raw material to foreigners and avoids some troubles between two different diets. The most important point lies in the function of keeping the full flavor of Chinese Dish.

We will discuss this translation according to three different structures:

(a) cooking method +raw material

烧鹅 roast goose

涮羊肉 instant boiled mutton 脆皮锅酥肉 deep fried pork

(b) cooking method +raw material +with +ingredients

酿豆腐 bean curd stuffed with minced pork 糖醋排骨 spareribs with sweet and sour sauce 干烧明虾 fried prawns with pepper sauce (c) cooking method +raw material +and + raw material

虾仁扒豆腐 stewed shelled shrimps and bean curd 凤肝虾仁 fried shelled shrimps and chicken liver

红烧什肉虾仁豆腐 fried bean curd, shelled shrimps and missed meat with

brown sauce

The feature of these Chinese dish names is actually describing materials, cooking methods and features of dishes.

The notion of literal translation has been formalized by Nida as formal equivalence. It was defined by Nida as one of “two different types of equivalence”, which “focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content” (1964:159). Readers can understand easily when they see the dish names, because this translation embodies the original information of the dishes.

4.2 Literal Translation with Notes