On the English Translation of Chinese Dishes for Olympics.docx

On the English Translation of Chinese Dishes for Olympics.docx

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OntheEnglishTranslationofChineseDishesforOlympics

OntheEnglishTranslationofChineseDishesforOlympics

Abstract

Towelcomethe2008BeijingOlympicGames,asetoffixedEnglishtranslationsforChinesemenushavebeenpublishedbytheBeijingMunicipalTourismBureau,aimingtounifyandstandardizetheEnglishtranslationofChinesedishes.China,whoenjoysthereputationoftheWorldcookingKingdomandregardsfoodaswhatmatterstothepeople,isrenownedforitsdeepconnotationandlonghistoryofhercuisines.SotastingtheuniqueChinesecuisinehasbecomeanimportantelementfortheoverseastouristswhensightseeinginChina.NamesofChinesedishesreflectthemagnificentfoodcultureofChina.IftheEnglishtranslationisnotappropriate,itwillinfluencenotonlythespreadofChineseexcellentdietaryculturebutalsothetourists’appetite.Therefore,thispaperanalyzestheprobableexistingproblemsinthetaskandthedietaryculture,andthenputsforwardsomestrategiesinthetranslation.

Keywords:

Chinesemenu;Dietaryculturaldifferences;Translatingstrategies

摘要

为迎接2008年奥运会,北京市旅游局出台了《中文菜名英文译法》的讨论稿,旨在统一规范饭店菜名的英译。

在“民以食为天”并享有世界烹饪王国之称的中华大地,烹饪艺术博大精深、源远流长。

品尝独具特色的中国美食已成为海外游客在中国观光游览的一项重要内容，而中国菜名折射出中华民族绚丽的饮食文化。

如果名称的英译处理不当的话,不仅不能将中华民族优秀的饮食文化传播出去,还会影响游客的食欲。

因此，文章分析了当前菜名英译存在的问题及饮食文化，并归纳了一些翻译原则。

关键词:

中文菜单；饮食文化差异；翻译原则

1Introduction

Sincethenameofadishisthefirstimpressiongiventoadinningpersonwhenheorshedecidestoorderadish,itisimportanttoconveyaccurateinformationtothecustomer.Asasignificantandindispensableparttoafinedish,thedishnametranslation,playsanimportantroleandfacesahighdemandraisedbytheprofoundandcomplexnatureofChinesemenusandculinaryterms.

However,manyforeignerscomplainthattheyareoftenpuzzledandevenstartledbythemenuwhentheydineinChineserestaurants,sayingtheawfultranslationsofthenamesofthedishesoftengivethemnosmallcultureshock.

ThenamesofmanyChinesedishesaretranslatedliterallyintoEnglish,thoughtheseEnglishwordsmightnotmakeanysenseatall.Forexample,"LuDaGun"（aBeijing-styledessert）,istranslatedinto"rollingdonkey,"and"MaPoDouFu"（oneofthemostfamousSichuandishes）istranslatedinto"beancurdmadebyapockmarkedwoman."

AyoungAustraliansaidhewasreallystartledbya"tigerdish"onthemenuofarestaurant.Actually,itisonlyacolddishmadeoftomatoes,greenpeppersandonions,andofcoursehasnothingtodowithtigersatall.TheChinesenameofthedishcomesfromitshotandspicyflavor.

Thetranslationof"TongZiJi"（broiler）isperhapsthefunniestofall,asitistranslatedinto"chickenwithoutsexuallife"onthemenuofsomerestaurants."Whydon'ttheyjustput'virginchicks'onthemenu?

"acustomerjoked.

Therefore,tobetterwelcometheBeijingOlympics,tomakeforeignersfinditeasiertoorderamealinBeijingduringtheOlympics,asetoffixedEnglishtranslationsforChinesemenushasbeenpublishedbytheBeijingMunicipalTourismBureau.FengDongming,headofthetranslationprogramandvicedeanoftheTourismSchoolofBeijingUnionUniversity,oncesaidthatthenamesofChinesedisheshadlongbeenpartofourculture.Soweshouldtranslatetheminawaythatpeoplefromotherculturescanunderstandthem.

TherearemanyproblemsintheexistingEnglishtranslationandthereasonsareofvariety,butthedietaryculturedifferencemaybethemostimportantreasonwhythepresentstateofEnglishtranslationofChinesedishnamesisfarfromsatisfactory.Therefore,thisthesisfocusesonthereviewofthetranslationoftheChinesedishescombinedtothefixedEnglishtranslationsforChinesemenusandwillbeginwiththediscussionoftheexistingproblems.

2ProblemsFoundintheExistingEnglishTranslationofChineseDishes

2.1ProblemsintheExistingEnglishTranslationofChineseDishes

SinceChina’sreformsandopeningupin1978，moreandmoreforeignpeoplehavecometoChina.WhenpeoplefromdifferentculturalbackgroundenjoyChinesedishesandfoods,theyarefrequentlycuriousandeagertoknowtheexactmeaningofthenamesofcertaindishesandfoods.Atthesametime,theyhavemuchinterestinthefoods’origins.Inrecentyears，alongwiththeexchangeoffoodandcuisineculturebetweenChinaandtheWest，ever-increasingattentionhasbeenpaidtotheEnglishtranslationofChinesedishesandfoods.Disappointedly，however，thecurrentstateofEnglishtranslationisfarfromsatisfactory.ItisundeniableandevidentthatatpresentmanyproblemsexistintheEnglishtranslationofChinesecuisine.Themainproblemscanbesummarizedasfallingintooneofthefollowingtwocategories:

a.Multipletranslationsforasingledishname.Thisproblemcancauseconfusionandobscurities.Forexample:

For怪味鸡,thereare“Multi-FlavoredChicken”and“Wonderful-TasteChicken;

For麻婆豆腐,wehave“BeancurdwithMincedMeatandChiliSauce”,“BeancurdwithMincedPorkinHotSauce”,“PepperyHotBeanCurd”,“Pork-MarkedGrandma’sBeanCurd”,“MaPoTofu”,etc.;

For回锅肉,thetranslatednamesinclude“Twice-Cookedpork”,“DoubleSautéedPork”,“HuiguoRou”andsoon.

For红烧狮子头,therearevarioustranslationssuchas“BraisedMeatballswithBrownsauce”,“LionHeadBraisedinBrownSauce”,“StewedPorkBallsinCasserole”,“StewedMincedPorkBallswithBrownSauce”,etc.;

For宫保鸡丁,correspondingtranslationsare“SpicyDicedChickenwithPeanuts”,“ChickenwithHotPeppersandPeanuts”,“FriedDicedChickeninSichuanStyle”,“GrandDuck’sChickenwithPeanuts”,“GongBaoChicken”,andsoforth;

For涮羊肉,wecansay“InstantBoiledMutton”,“MuttonSlicesCookedinHotPot”,“MongolianHotPot”,“MuttonHotPot”,“MuttonChafing-Dish”,andthelike.

For狗不理包子,“GoubuliSteamedStuffedBuns”,“GoubuliBaozi”,“EventheDogDoesNotGetNear”“SteamedStuffedBuns”,etc.;

For饺子,“Dumpling”,“Chinese-styleRavioli”,“Jiaozi”,etc.

Thisproblemispartlyduetothelackofuniformedandstandardizedcriteriaoftranslation.Andontheother,itresultsfromthehistoricaldevelopmentofChineseculture,especiallyChinesefoodculture.

b.Wrongchoiceoftranslationmethods.Thisproblemmainlyliesinthechoicesamongliteraltranslation，freetranslation,transliteration,etc.TheEnglishtranslationofChinesedishesandfoodsinvolvesmanyfactors,suchaslanguage,culture,tradition,andsoon.Onsomeoccasions,adoptingonlyonetranslationmethodcannotextractthemostproperoneoutofthetranslation.Thiscanbecategorizedintothefollowingtypes:

（1）Thoughliteraltranslationcanbeintuitive,easytounderstand,andfaithfultotheoriginal,questionscouldbearousedamonginquisitiveforeigners.Forinstance,麻婆豆腐isoftentranslatedliterallyintoPock-MarkedGrandma’sBeanCurd.Forforeignpeoplewhoknownothingabouttheculturalbackground，theymayinquirefurtherabouttherelationsbetweenthebeancurdandthepock-markedgrandma.Somepeopletranslate红烧狮子头intoLionHeadBraisedinBrownSauce,butforeignersdon’tknowLionHeadisametaphorformeatballsanddarenothaveatasteofit.

（2）Freetranslationcanbeclearerthanliteraltranslation,butispronetobeverboseandevenlosestheoriginalflavor,e.g.thedishof老少平安ismadeofbeancurd,fishmeat,etc.（RenJingsheng,2001:

45）Anditsnameimpliessuitabilityforboththeelderandtheyoung,sothesimplefreetranslationofBeanCurdwithFishwillsufferalossofmeaning.

（3）Mixedtranslationwithbothliteraltranslationandfreetranslationcanbeconcisebutpuzzlingtotheforeignersinsomecases.Forexample,“GongBao”in宫保鸡丁,and“BaWang”in霸王别姬,offernohintstonon-Chinesespeakers.

（4）TransliterationiseasybutcanconfusebothChineseandWesternpeople.Forinstance,expectingwesternerstounderstand,if狗不理包子istranslatedintoGoubuliBaozi,and佛跳墙isrenderedintoFoTiaoQiang,isthesameasassuminganyChinesecandogoodEnglishtranslationwithoutlearningtheEnglishlanguage.

Therefore,wecanconclude,fromtheaboveanalysis,thatnotasingletranslationstrategyormethodisuniversallyapplicable.Inordertoproducethemostappropriatetranslations,peopleconcernedshouldputmoreeffortinstudyingthedishandfoodnames,andthenadoptpropertranslationstrategiesaccordingly.

2.2CausesoftheProblems

Everyproblemhasitscause,andthatofmenutranslationisnoexception.Intheauthor’sopinion,thereareatleastthreecausesofthisproblem.

Firstly,peopledon’tpayadequateattentiontotheEnglishtranslationofChinesedishesandfoods.Forquitealongtime,Chinesepeoplehavebelievedthatmenutranslationisnotimportantandtheyhavebeenunwillingtoattachdueimportancetoit.Evenpeopleintheserviceindustrysuchasmanyhotelandrestaurantpersonnelhaven’tfullyappreciatedtheimportanceofmenutranslation.Menutranslationis,however,ofgreatsignificancetotheserviceindustryanditisjustthisindustrythatpromotesChina’sinternationaltourismandculturalexchange.Duetoitslackofhistoricalattention,peopleregardmenutranslationassomethingtrivialandundertakeitinaverycarelessway.Itisthereforenowonderthatmanymistakesanddemeritsoccur.

Next,manytranslatorswhodomenutranslationlackthenecessarylinguisticskills.Manyskilledtranslatorsnevercondescendtodothistypeofwork,whilethosewhoengageinmenutranslationarenotfullycompetent.Theresultingtranslationisthusunavoidablyaffectedandshoddy,withevengrammaticalandsyntacticerrors.

Lastbutnotleast,manymenutranslatorsaredeficientinculturalawareness.Duetothefactthatmenutranslationencompassesmanydisheswithuniquelocalsigni