Translation Strategies in Translating Chinese Dishes

汪洋

Five strategies we always use for translating Chinese dishes which are based on Nadas Functional Equivalence are as follows： literal translation， liberal translation，Transliteration， combined translation and creative translation. Among the five， literal

Translation and liberal translation are the most important.

A. Literal Translation

Literal translation， also called word-for-word translation by Cicero. This category of dishes names are mainly to express the ingredients， the skill of cutting up vegetables and meat and cooking methods， as well as the smell of the dishes. As in Chinese and English， there basically exist correspondent words， the translator can use the literal translation which can make the version much more appropriate to the original one .

Take “番茄炒蛋” as an example. Here we can clearly see the ingredients and cooking methods， the “番茄”（tomato） and “蛋”（eggs） are the ingredients. “炒”（stir-fry；scramble）tells us the culinary method. So in English we can say “番茄炒蛋” as “scrambled eggs with tomato”. Other examples are：

拌豆腐丝： Shredded tofu with sauce

白切鸡： Boiled chicken with sauce

B. Liberal translation

Literal translation also refers to free translation. The category always tend to utilize the features of colour， smell， flavour and appearance of ingredients， and the features of the cooking methods. To cater to the customers psychology， we enrich the dishes with some beautiful and auspicious names. This sort of names do not reflect not only the ingredients but also the cooking methods. In the situation， the translator should consider liberal translation to spread the expectancy functions of foods relative information to the foreigners. Examples are as follows：

“螞蚁上树”： Bean vermicelli with spicy meat sauce

“一卵孵两凤”： Steamed chicken with water melon

C. Transliteration

With the advancement of the human society， the cultural development also tends to be global. Cultural communication among countries has become much more frequent. Now that some western words such as 三明治（sandwich） and “沙拉”（salad） are widely accepted by Chinese people， I believe Chinese jiaozi（饺子）， tofu（豆腐）， laomian（捞面） and chaofan（炒饭） also should be acknowledged by the foreigners. As China is a country with large amount of culture and history， there are lots of words can not be translated literally or liberally. The only way to solve the problem is to apply the transliteration to the translation strategy.

D. Combined translation

Although the above three translation strategies are the main ones， there still some other words they can not assort to， particularly the romantic names. So there are some combined translation which will add accuracy， integrity and beauty to the comprehensive feeling.

1.Transliteration+liberal translation

This strategy should be regarded as a condiment to transliteration for transliteration can only used in the dishes prevailing enough. However， the strategy can be applied to the dishes enjoying little popularity. With combination of the two techniques， foreigners could be easier to be familiar with the ingredients， cooking methods of preparation and its helpful to promote cultural implication. For example， we can translate”無锡排骨 into “Wuxi ribs （Fried spare ribs） and “担担面 into “Dandan noodles” （Sichuan noodles with peppery souce）. The strategy help to spread the culture of Chinese language， make it well-known and international and enhance Chinas status in the world.

2.Literal +liberal translation

The technique is available in translating the dishes names with figurative devices or auspicious wishes. With the method， the literal idea of the dish can be expressed by literal translation， while the raw materials， culinary methods can be discovered with the liberal translation to avoid the misunderstanding .For example， we usually translate “全家福 into “Happy family （A combination of shrimps， lobster， beef， chicken and mixed vegetables with brown sauce）. Via the strategy， it not only makes the foreign gourmets acquainted with the dishes themselves， but also conveys a feeling of being auspicious and good use of metaphor. Another example is “蚂蚁上树 whose translation based on the technique would be “Ants climbing the tree（Bean vermicelli with spicy meat sauce）.

E. Creative Translation

Though it has a comprehensive introduction of translation strategies above， it maybe couldnt cover every dish. For example， what could the translation of “口水鸡 be？ Literally， it could be translated “Saliva chicken”. But if we really use this version， maybe nobody will dare to taste it. Because it sounds a little disgusting and make people lose appetite. If translated liberally， it would be “steamed chicken with chili sauce. Then it has no obvious characteristics that can not attract peoples interests. It sounds just like the other chicken. In this situation， we should try some creative versions that can brighten the dish. One successful version I persist is “Chicken-That-Makes-You-Slobber， though it has no implication of the materials or culinary methods. But maybe just because of this， it add some feeling of mystery and arouse people to look into the dish. It shows a kind of confidence： go and taste it， and it will never let you down.

Another example is “狗不理包子. Two versions appropriate are “Dog-Wont-Leave and “Go-Believe. Some people may translate it into “Goubuli Buns by transliteration which conveys no meaning to foreigners who are no familiar with the delicacy.

Bibliography：

[1] Eugene A. Nada. Toward a science of Translating. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press， 2004

[2] Lawrence Venuti. The Translators Invisibility. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press， 2005

[3] Wang Bingqin. The Theory and Practice of Cultural Translation. Tianjin： Nankai University Press， 2007