论文总字数：41657字

摘 要

本课题旨在研究中国饮食文化翻译策略和方法，通过对中西方饮食文化的介绍以及对比，得出中西方饮食文化的差异， 并运用具体实例进行分析阐述和总结， 得出中国饮食文化的翻译策略和技巧。中国饮食文化在全世界越来越流行， 因此本课题能给国人以及西方国家的人对中国饮食文化有一个更深的理解。

关键字：中国饮食文化，西方饮食文化，比较，翻译技巧和策略，影响

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................ⅰ

Abstracts (English)………………………………………………………………….ⅱ

Abstracts (Chinese)…………………………………………………………………ⅲ

1. Introduction…………………………………………..............................................1

2. Literature Review…………………………………………………………………3

2.1 Previous Theories on Translation concerning Chinese Food Culture……….3

2.2 Problems in the Previous Studies……………………………………………4

3. Comparison of Western and Chinese Food Culture…………………………….6

3.1 Introduction to Chinese Food Culture…………………………………………..6

3.2 Introduction to Western Food Culture…………………………………………..7

3.3 The Differences between Western and Chinese Food Culture………………….7

3.2.1 Features of western food culture………………………………………7

3.2.2 Features of Chinese food culture………………………………………8

3.2.3 Differences between western and Chinese food culture………………8

3.4 The Reason of Differences between Western and Chinese Food Culture……..10

4. Translation Strategies of Chinese Food Culture………………………………11

4.1 The Basic Principles and Features of Western and Chinese Translation……11

4.2 The Difficulties and Criteria of Western and Chinese Food Translation……11

4.3 The Translation Strategies of Chinese Food Culture…………………………12

4.3.1 Literal translation……………………………………………………13

4.3.2 Literal translation adding with phonetic translation…………………..15

4.3.3 Phonetic translation adding with explanative translation……………..15

4.3.4 Literal translation adding with explanative translation……………….15

4.3.5 Liberal translation……………………………………………………17

4.3.6 Transformative translation…………………………………………….18

5. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..........19

Reference……………………………………………………………………………20

1. Introduction

Translation is a kind of behavior to exchange information with each other. For more than thirty- year findings in linguistics, pragmatics, cognitive linguistics, comparative literature, cultural studies, etc. have been applied to the study of translation, and striking results have been reported. We have drawn out many measures for reference in order to translate better. However, with regards to Chinese food culture, many foreigners still don’t have any ideas about it. And some translation studies are limited due to translational problems, especially in food translation. So, in this thesis, I will introduce some strategies and skills concerning the translation of Chinese food culture.

Food culture is a beauty which generates from people’s pursuit of food. Now, it is more than a pursuit of food, and people want to get joy from it. Chinese food culture has a long history, which is well known for its color, aroma and taste. Compared with itself, it is more of an art. Different kinds of food and etiquettes mix together resulting in abundant Chinese food culture. It can be regarded as a traditional culture. Many features in traditional culture were reflected in food culture, such as “theory that man is an integral part of nature” (天人合一)；“yin-yang and five elements” (阴阳五行). Meanwhile, the name of Chinese food can be divided into various kinds. Some are named according to raw materials such as Chicken in Lotus Leaf (荷叶鸡) , some named from place such as Beijing Roast Duck (北京烤鸭) ，some named according to taste such as Spiced Duck with Toufu (五香鸭子)， some resulted from number such as Eight Treasure Rice (八宝饭) ， some generated from poetry such as Sauteed Vermicelli with Spicy Minced Pork (蚂蚁上树) etc. Our country has different tastes in different regions, as is well known to all, “sweet in the south, salty in the north, spicy in the east, and sour in the west”. Due to it, we have eight different kinds of cuisines. They are Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, Hunan cuisine and Anhui cuisine. What is well known to us is that there are three kinds of food culture in the world. One is western food culture represented by French, one is Islamic food culture represented by Turkey, and the other is Chinese food culture represented by China. Both Chinese people and foreigners are fond of eating. Foreigners pay much attention to environment and service. They tend to romance and elegance. They may figure out how many calories they should take or how much nutrition they should absorb in. However, not only do Chinese people have a tendency to enjoy from the food but also they can learn from the food. They may call several friends to sit together to enjoy the pleasure. Also, they focus on nutrition, which can make sure that they will work hard all day. Nowadays, with the development of globalization and communication with other countries, more and more foreigners have interests in Chinese food. As a result, the task of translation about Chinese food culture is undoubtedly playing a more and more important role in the global communication. So, it is significant to translate Chinese food. The aim of translation is to introduce one’s culture. In order to preserve the culture completely, we should take different measures to translate Chinese food culture to foreigners. Then, our country will be more and more attractive to foreigners, which can motivate the communication with other countries. Besides, we can benefit from it.

2. Literature review

• 1. Previous Theories on Translation concerning Chinese Food Culture

Anthropology professor Jack Goody focused on the theme on the globalization of Chinese food in the book Food and Love: A Culture History of East and West. He believed that the globalization of Chinese food is the globalization of world culture. The production of Chinese food adds a multi-cultural element to the process of globalization. So, it is of significance to introduce Chinese food to the whole world.

J.A.G Roberts wrote a book called China to Chinatown: Chinese food in the west ( YangDongping Trans.), which was divided into two parts. One is foreigners’ attitudes to Chinese food, and the other is the trend of Chinese food globalization and adaptation. Nowadays, there are many Chinese restaurants among the world. But, how is the Chinese food adopted by the whole world? At first, many countries dislike Chinese food and even hate it. In the book, the author pointed out that the way is similar to “west to east”, which is a long process from rejection to popularization.

In terms of translation, it is language behavior to interpret one language to another language, which can make different people communicate with each other much easier. It may refer to many different aspects, for example, cultural differences, different contexts, understanding to different languages, familiarity to different languages etc.

The distinguished linguist Eugene A. Nida (1969) pointed out in his masterpiece the Theory and Practice of Translation: “Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning, and secondly in terms of style. ” This is only a general principle of translation, but there are still detailed methods with respect to the translation of Chinese food culture.

Fang Mengzhi and Mao Zhongming (2005) came out with three usual ways to deal with the cultural factors in the English translation of Chinese food in A Course on Pragmatic Translation, that is, literal translation, free translation and formula translation.

The triple translation criteria, namely “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance” were put forward by YanFu. He was the most influential translator and translation theorist in his period. It is the same principle in food translation. Not only do we need to make foreigners understand the basic meaning but also we should obey to some important principles. Of course, if we can add some poetry to it, it will be better.

• 1. Problems in the Previous Study

However, both at home and abroad, it doesn’t have a wide study on Chinese food culture. In part of culture, most of them tend to have a historic point from one dynasty to next dynasty. If translated, they will also accord to time. What’s more, there are some problems in today’s food translation. It is not difficult to find that some translation is too direct to reflect Chinese culture. They may leave a bad impression on foreigners instead. For example, “ 麻婆豆腐” may be translated as “Bean curd made by a pock-marked woman” (一个满脸麻子的婆婆做的豆腐) ；“夫妻肺片” may be translated as “ a couple’s lung slice” (一对夫妻的肺被做成切片).If translated in this way, I believe none will have an appetite on delicious Chinese food. In addition, some dishes can be translated into many types. There is no standard form such as “汤圆”may be translated as “puddings, rice dumplings or white balls”. “宫保鸡丁”， this dish can be translated into different versions according to people’s customs.

Sauteed Chicken Cubes with Peanuts

Diced Chicken with Chili and Peanuts

Fried Diced Chicken in Sichuan Style

Gongbao Chicken

Kungbao Chicken

Spicy Diced Chicken with Peanuts

Chicken with Hot Peppers and Peanuts

Besides, some Chinese words and some English words can’t correspond to each other completely, so the name of food can’t be interpreted perfectly. They may be ambiguous to foreigners such as “四喜丸子” may be translated into “four happy meatballs” (四个开心的丸子) ； “驴打滚”may be translated into “ a rolling donkey” (一只打滚的驴). All these kinds of translation may puzzle foreigners. They don’t know why balls should be happy, meat balls’ meat is what and why the donkey is rolling, whether it have some pains or not. At the same time, they may think that this dish is made of donkey. Actually, it is a sweet dish mostly made of glutinous rice powder. Apart from these problems, there also exist other problems. I think only do we avoid these problems can we popularize our culture better.

1. Comparison of Chinese and Western food culture

3.1Introduction to Chinese Food Culture

Food culture refers to people’s eating behavior and habits in daily life, mainly including food itself properties, the process of production, dining utensils, environment, manners and customs, etc. There is an old saying that “Food is the most necessity to people(民以食为天)”, which has pointed out the importance of food. Since the beginning use of fire, people are continuously studying on “eating”. With this study, people ended up with eating raw materials directly and began to cook food in different ways. With the development of history and technology, “eating” is beyond its literal meaning. Nowadays, food is to people what water is to fish. People can’t have a diamond necklace but they must enjoy food to please their taste buds. Chinese food culture is composed of 8 main cuisines, Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, Hunan cuisine, and Anhui cuisine. In order to catch on the deep meaning of each cuisine, people have personalized them. Jiangsu cuisine and Zhejiang cuisine are depicted as the beauty in Jiangnan, who are beautiful and graceful. Shandong cuisine and Anhui cuisine are like northern men, strong but simple. Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine are described as a real well-known man who is famous for his many talents. Then Cantonese cuisine and Fujian cuisine are portrayed as a gentleman who is decent and handsome. The connotation of Chinese food culture is of delicacy, beauty, lirico and manners. Delicacy for the Chinese food culture is the inner quality of generalizations. Beauty embodies the aesthetic characteristic of the food culture, which includes forms and contents. As a consequence, people can enjoy from the beauty both from mental and physical. Lirico is the generalization of social psychological function in the Chinese food culture. Over the eating, people can chat, do business, exchange information and interview etc. Manners refer to table manners related to ancient culture including the sequence of food and seats. On the table, both host and guests had better follow the regulations. Generally, the elderly or people who have higher statues will sit down a little earlier than other people. Chinese people will have cold dishes firstly and then hot dishes. Over the course, people can toaste to each other in order to show their respects. They may toaste to others for “good health or good luck”. At the end, they will have rice or noodles as their main food. Chinese table manners are not easy to learn, people may anger or please others just for a small behavior. Meanwhile, host will urge guests to eat continuously as a warming welcome. And people may feel closer to each other.

3.2Introduction to western food culture

Western food is a general name of all the food in foreign countries. Strictly speaking, western food all has its own features. For instance, French people take their food as French cuisine, while British people believe that their food is British cuisine. So, what we said western food is just a difference from Chinese food. When we refer to French food, we must have a deep impression on its delicacy. French cuisine features in various raw materials such as snail, goose liver etc. Besides, French food is particular about raw materials and French people sometimes tend to enjoy it without them being cooked or just undercooked. As we all known, French is a romantic country. Therefore, eating atmosphere is also taken into consideration. Especially in supper, they would like enjoy it with fresh flowers and romantic candles surrounded. When they have lunch, a bottle of wine is never the extra. British cuisine is famous for its simplicity and manners. While Italian dishes mostly are made of flour, adding with different shapes and hardcore. American food is full of nutrition and convenient. Although western countries have different kinds of cuisines, they also have something in common. They both need table manners. When they eat at the table, they need to prepare themselves with napkins. They pay much attention to elegance. Every dish to them is more an art than food, in particular in French, and every chef take his dish as an art.

3.3 The differences between Western and Chinese Food Culture.

3.3.1 Features of Chinese food culture

Chinese food culture has a special position in the world due to its three aspects. First, it has a long history, with culture deeply accumulated and structure strongly formed. Since the ancient time, from the empire to common people, they chose different food to satisfy themselves. Second, Chinese food culture includes different fields involved in profound meaning. As for this point, different dishes may have different wishes, so they may be named from different aspects. Third, Chinese food culture is full of energy and national characteristics, fully embodying Chinese traditional culture. Chinese people pay much attention to food, keeping their health, pleasing their taste buds, showing their beliefs etc. Chinese food has eight cuisines, each of which has their own features. In general, each chef is experienced at cooking, from choosing raw materials and ingredients to how much they being used.

3.3.2 Features of western food culture

People in the west may pay much attention to scientific diet and nutrition. They usually eat food quietly, even no talking. As for drinking, they only symbolically take a sip. In western banquet, the host helps the guests to food only once, and then asks them to eat any more. When they are eating, it is not allowed to make a noise while eating the food, but the guests should pay attention to appreciate the meals that owners prepared. If you want to talk with people, you can only talk with the ones beside you, which is polite in their opinion. In addition, table manners are also important generally laid with one knife and two forks, the outside fork being for the salad. They take fork in their hand, and cut off a piece of meat or whatever it is in the normal manners. Then they put the knife down, transfer the fork to their right hand, and only then they do transport the food to their mouth. In western-style food cookbook, various ingredients such as the flour, sugar and butter etc. have been indicated several grams, several spoons or several cups, even the size of the egg will all be explained. It is like a testing laboratory. So, making western-style food is easily, so long as you according to cookbook explanation.

3.3.3 Differences between western and Chinese food culture

As is mentioned above, the difference between china and western country lies in manners, cooking method, dining atmosphere and table ware. A cookbook can be enough for a western meal, but it is not an easy thing if you want to make delicious Chinese food. Even if you have bought the cookbook, it is not so easy. Because the Chinese cookbook will not tell you several grams of ingredient, for example salt, Chinese cookbook just tell you appropriate amount of salt, don’t tell you several grams, several spoons, or several cups. The reason of that is that the taste of Chinese people who live in different places is different in china. There is a folk adage in China “south sweet, north salty, east hot and west sour”. So, a good chef relies on experience and skill instead of a cookbook. As a result, there are five differences between Chinese and Western food culture.

1.Difference in concepts to diets

Western people are more rational and more scientific to diet. Nutritional value of food they put in the first place, and they focus on the food containing protein, fat, calories and vitamins, in particular, pay attention to the nutrient contents of food, whether the supply of food calories are appropriate and if the nutrient contents can be completely absorbed, with or without side effects. Whereas, Chinese people pursue too much about food color, smell, taste. Over the eating, they may combine pragmatic or utilitarian purpose. Western people believe food is just a means of survival.

2.Differences in manners to diets

Western cuisine, most western dishes are served respectively, steak is steak, and fish is fish. At most, people would like add some raw materials such as fresh vegetables or fruits. However, Chinese people tend to combine different materials with different ingredients, which is just like “harmony” being said in the ancient time. The “harmony” thinking reflected in cooking reflects the flavors harmonizing together. So Chinese food in almost every dish should reconcile two or more raw materials cooked.

3. Differences in dietary contents

Westerners are mostly nomadic, sailing nation, mainly in farming, while China is a large agricultural country, mainly in planting. Westerners prefer meat to vegetables. They pay more attention to the intake of animal protein and fat diet, mainly chicken, beef, lamb, fish, pork etc. Compared to westerners, Chinese people would rather grain-based meat and vegetables than animals. They prefer rice and noodles to bread. Moreover, westerners like cold dishes on the table, such as cold fish, salad, cold drinks. Chinese people like hot food, except for some cold drinks and cold appetizers.

4. Differences in cooking methods

In China, cooking is an art, which embodies the unity of the rigor and improvisation, so cooking is extremely interesting to attract Chinese people to pursue the pleasure of life. A variety of cooking methods, fried, simmered, steamed, stewed, braised, roasted, deep-fried, spiced, can really dazzle people. So it is the reason that why Chinese food is full of “color, smell, and taste”. While westerners cooking food from a nutritional view, they emphasize on the nutritional value, how can they absorb all the food nutrition. Consequently, they will choose the best way to cook it.

5. Differences in table manners

When Chinese people get on the table, they would like sit together and talk to each other continuously, urging others to eat or drink. Westerners tend to sit with a long table, with host and hostess sitting at both ends and then female or male guests seated continually. Of course, Chinese people like using chopsticks while westerners like knife and fork.

3.4The reason of differences between western and Chinese food culture

In the long history, the diet is essential for human survival and development, one of the basic content of social life. However, each country is in different geographical, environmental, and cultural and ethnic customs, which has a different concept of diet and dietary practices, and ultimately the formation of the differences in food culture. With the global economic and cultural development, intercultural communication is more and more frequently, the difference between Chinese and Western cultures to promote the cultural differences of Chinese and western food, and this difference from the Western way of thinking and philosophy.

4. Translation strategies of Chinese Food Culture

4.1The Basic Principles and Features of Western and Chinese Translation

Translation can be roughly defined as a reproduction in one language of what being written or said in another language. Being a very complicated human activity, its whole picture is never easy to describe. Scholars with different academic background have attempted to define it from various perspectives. Linguistic views on translation are that translation theorists from the linguistic school conceive of translation as a linguistic activity and some believe that translation theory is a branch of linguistic, approaching the issues of translating primarily from the viewpoint of the linguistic differences between source and target texts. In the cultural approach, translation is regarded not only as a transfer of linguistic signs, but also as a communication of culture. Also, when you translate literary, translation is an artistic recreation or a recreated art. Some modern Western scholars from the literary school take literary translation to be “the manipulation or rewriting of the source texts”. Chinese food has a long history which descended from ancient time. Chinese food has a reputation of delicacy, full-nutrition, and various raw materials. Chinese food features in “color, aroma and taste”, which foreigners have compliments on continuously. As a part of Chinese tradition, Chinese food enjoys their fame both home and abroad. Not only does Chinese food look and taste good but also they have sound names.

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