On the English Translation of Chinese Dishes for Ol.doc

On the English Translation of Chinese Dishes for OlympicsAbstract To welcome the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, a set of fixed English translations for Chinese menus have been published by the Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau, aiming to unify and standardize the English translation of Chinese dishes. China, who enjoys the reputation of the World cooking Kingdom and regards food as what matters to the people, is renowned for its deep connotation and long history of her cuisines. So tasting the unique Chinese cuisine has become an important element for the overseas tourists when sightseeing in China. Names of Chinese dishes reflect the magnificent food culture of China. If the English translation is not appropriate, it will influence not only the spread of Chinese excellent dietary culture but also the tourists appetite. Therefore, this paper analyzes the probable existing problems in the task and the dietary culture, and then puts forward some strategies in the translation. Key words: Chinese menu; Dietary cultural differences; Translating strategies 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 1 Introduction Since the name of a dish is the first impression given to a dinning person when he or she decides to order a dish, it is important to convey accurate information to the customer. As a significant and indispensable part to a fine dish, the dish name translation, plays an important role and faces a high demand raised by the profound and complex nature of Chinese menus and culinary terms. However, many foreigners complain that they are often puzzled and even startled by the menu when they dine in Chinese restaurants, saying the awful translations of the names of the dishes often give them no small culture shock. The names of many Chinese dishes are translated literally into English, though these English words might not make any sense at all. For example, "Lu Da Gun" (a Beijing-style dessert), is translated into "rolling donkey," and "Ma Po Dou Fu" (one of the most famous Sichuan dishes) is translated into "beancurd made by a pockmarked woman." A young Australian said he was really startled by a "tiger dish" on the menu of a restaurant. Actually, it is only a cold dish made of tomatoes, green peppers and onions, and of course has nothing to do with tigers at all. The Chinese name of the dish comes from its hot and spicy flavor. The translation of "Tong Zi Ji" (broiler) is perhaps the funniest of all, as it is translated into "chicken without sexual life" on the menu of some restaurants. "Why don't they just put 'virgin chicks' on the menu?" a customer joked. Therefore, to better welcome the Beijing Olympics, to make foreigners find it easier to order a meal in Beijing during the Olympics, a set of fixed English translations for Chinese menus has been published by the Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau. Feng Dongming, head of the translation program and vice dean of the Tourism School of Beijing Union University, once said that the names of Chinese dishes had long been part of our culture. So we should translate them in a way that people from other cultures can understand them. There are many problems in the existing English translation and the reasons are of variety, but the dietary culture difference may be the most important reason why the present state of English translation of Chinese dish names is far from satisfactory. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the review of the translation of the Chinese dishes combined to the fixed English translations for Chinese menus and will begin with the discussion of the existing problems.2 Problems Found in the Existing English Translation of Chinese Dishes 2.1 Problems in the Existing English Translation of Chinese DishesSince Chinas reforms and opening up in1978，more and more foreign people have come to China. When people from different cultural background enjoy Chinese dishes and foods, they are frequently curious and eager to know the exact meaning of the names of certain dishes and foods. At the same time, they have much interest in the foods origins. In recent years，along with the exchange of food and cuisine culture between China and the West，ever-increasing attention has been paid to the English translation of Chinese dishes and foods. Disappointedly，however，the current state of English translation is far from satisfactory. It is undeniable and evident that at present many problems exist in the English translation of Chinese cuisine. The main problems can be summarized as falling into one of the following two categories: a. Multiple translations for a single dish name. This problem can cause confusion and obscurities. For example:For 怪味鸡, there are “Multi-Flavored Chicken” and “Wonderful- Taste Chicken;For 麻婆豆腐, we have “Bean curd with Minced Meat and Chili Sauce”, “Bean curd with Minced Pork in Hot Sauce”, “Peppery Hot Bean Curd”, “Pork-Marked Grandmas Bean Curd”, “MaPo Tofu”, etc.;For 回锅肉,the translated names include “Twice-Cooked pork”, “Double Sautéed Pork”, “Huiguo Rou” and so on.For 红烧狮子头, there are various translations such as “Braised Meatballs with Brown sauce”, “Lion Head Braised in Brown Sauce”, “Stewed Pork Balls in Casserole”, “Stewed Minced Pork Balls with Brown Sauce”, etc.;For 宫保鸡丁, corresponding translations are “Spicy Diced Chicken with Peanuts”, “Chicken with Hot Peppers and Peanuts”, “Fried Diced Chicken in Sichuan Style”, “Grand Ducks Chicken with Peanuts”, “Gong Bao Chicken”, and so forth;For 涮羊肉, we can say “Instant Boiled Mutton”, “Mutton Slices Cooked in Hot Pot”, “Mongolian Hot Pot”, “Mutton Hot Pot”, “Mutton Chafing-Dish”, and the like.For 狗不理包子, “Goubuli Steamed Stuffed Buns”, “Goubuli Baozi”, “Even the Dog Does Not Get Near” “Steamed Stuffed Buns”, etc.;For 饺子, “Dumpling”, “Chinese-style Ravioli”, “Jiaozi”, etc.This problem is partly due to the lack of uniformed and standardized criteria of translation. And on the other, it results from the historical development of Chinese culture, especially Chinese food culture.b. Wrong choice of translation methods. This problem mainly lies in the choices among literal translation，free translation, transliteration, etc. The English translation of Chinese dishes and foods involves many factors, such as language, culture, tradition, and so on. On some occasions, adopting only one translation method can not extract the most proper one out of the translation. This can be categorized into the following types:(1) Though literal translation can be intuitive, easy to understand, and faithful to the original, questions could be aroused among inquisitive foreigners. For instance , 麻婆豆腐is often translated literally into Pock-Marked Grandmas Bean Curd. For foreign people who know nothing about the cultural background，they may inquire further about the relations between the bean curd and the pock-marked grandma. Some people translate红烧狮子头into Lion Head Braised in Brown Sauce, but foreigners dont know Lion Head is a metaphor for meatballs and dare not have a taste of it.(2) Free translation can be clearer than literal translation, but is prone to be verbose and even loses the original flavor, e.g. the dish of 老少平安is made of bean curd, fish meat, etc.（Ren Jingsheng, 2001:45） And its name implies suitability for both the elder and the young, so the simple free translation of Bean Curd with Fish will suffer a loss of meaning.(3) Mixed translation with both literal translation and free translation can be concise but puzzling to the foreigners in some cases. For example, “Gong Bao” in宫保鸡丁, and “Ba Wang” in霸王别姬, offer no hints to non-Chinese speakers.(4) Transliteration is easy but can confuse both Chinese and Western people. For instance, expecting westerners to understand, if狗不理包子is translated into Goubuli Baozi, and佛跳墙is rendered into Fo Tiao Qiang, is the same as assuming any Chinese can do good English translation without learning the English language.Therefore, we can conclude, from the above analysis, that not a single translation strategy or method is universally applicable. In order to produce the most appropriate translations, people concerned should put more effort in studying the dish and food names, and then adopt proper translation strategies accordingly.2.2 Causes of the Problems Every problem has its cause, and that of menu translation is no exception. In the authors opinion, there are at least three causes of this problem. Firstly, people dont pay adequate attention to the English translation of Chinese dishes and foods. For quite a long time, Chinese people have believed that menu translation is not important and they have been unwilling to attach due importance to it. Even people in the service industry such as many hotel and restaurant personnel havent fully appreciated the importance of menu translation. Menu translation is, however, of great significance to the service industry and it is just this industry that promotes Chinas international tourism and cultural exchange. Due to its lack of historical attention, people regard menu translation as something trivial and undertake it in a very careless way. It is therefore no wonder that many mistakes and demerits occur.Next, many translators who do menu translation lack the necessary linguistic skills. Many skilled translators never condescend to do this type of work, while those who engage in menu translation are not fully competent. The resulting translation is thus unavoidably affected and shoddy, with even grammatical and syntactic errors.Last but not least, many menu translators are deficient in cultural awareness. Due to the fact that menu translation encompasses many dishes with unique local significance, it involves a certain amount of cultural translation. If translators are bilingual but not bicultural, they cannot appropriately deal with the cultural differences between Chinese and Western cultures, and this, in turn, will cause a strong lack of understanding or even culture shock between the two languages. The result is that English translations fail to accurately convey the exact meaning of Chinese dish names.As we know, translation means not only the transfer of different languages, but also the transfer of different cultures. The intention of translation of dish names is to introduce Chinese food as well as Chinese culture to foreign consumers who come to travel or work in China. When these foreigners enjoy Chinese food, they are often curious and eager to know the exact meaning as well as the cultural background of certain dish names. Therefore the translators should do their utmost to incorporate the Chinese food culture with the dish name translation. Hence, the following will make a further analysis of the cultural differences resulting in problems of dish name translation. 3 Dietary Cultural Differences between China and Western Countries Reflected from Dish NamesPeter Newmark points out “Frequently where there is cultural focus, there is a translation problem due to the cultural gap or distance between the source and target languages” (Newmark, 1988:93).As we know, language and culture are closely connected. Language is a part of culture and the carrier of culture. Language promotes the development of culture. （Gu Jiazu, 2002:77）Every country has its own culture, which forms and develops in specific natural environment, history, geographical conditions and social reality. As a result, it has its own characteristics. Translation is defined as an action of communication from the cultural perspective, which requires the translator to be both bilingual and bicultural. The translator should know clearly the differences between the cultures. However, cultural differences are a big and complicated topic; thus, to be perfect for the gist, this essay will analyze it in terms of dish names.Now, please look at some English dishes names.Steak Kidney Pie         牛肉腰子派English Fish Chip         炸鱼排Chicken a La King        皇家奶油鸡Italian Noodles           意大利面条Fresh Cucumber Salad     鲜黄瓜沙拉Lamb Couscous          羊肉库司Beef Steak with Egg       鸡蛋牛肉扒Cold Roast Chicken with Vegetables    冷烤油鸡蔬菜Fried Macaroni with Chicken and Ham  鸡肉火腿炒通心粉Creamed Mashed Chicken Soup; Mashed Chicken Soup with Cream奶油鸡茸汤From the above examples, it can be discovered that English dishes names are in a simple and straightforward way. Consumers can see what they'll eat from the names of dishes. This phenomenon has also reflected Western people's fast pace of life and practicality. In Britain, U.S.A. and other English countries, eating is regarded as a way of communication and a necessary survival means. American psychologist Abraham Maslow divides humans needs into five levels in his famous theory Law of Demand. Eating is classified into the first layer, which is the lowest level of human requirements.（Zhou Xiangping, 2003:107） Lin Yutang, a famous Chinese anthropological scholar, once said, “The diet concepts of people from English countries are different from those of the Chinese. They think that eating is just an act giving your body nutrients, like injecting fuel to a machine, to ensure its normal operation. As long as they are healthy enough to resist diseases, they care little about other problems.”（Hu Wenzhong, 2000:121） Therefore, in the minds of the English people, eating just plays a life-sustaining role in their life. We can see clearly that the English people would not assign more important missions to eating, which has been done by the Chinese people for a long time.In addition, that western cuisines consider meat as their staple supplemented by vegetable can be seen from English dishes names. Western people also eat rice, noodle and other cereal products, but to a much less degree compared with Chinese, and mainly as a healthy and exotic supply rather than a main diet. As to meat, beef, by all means, occupies the most prominent position as the indisputable staple. Mutton and pork are also consumed appreciably but less than beef. As a rising contender, chicken has witnessed an increasing portion of consumption in last decades. Fish is another major part of meat consumption, as well as eggs and dairy products which are also daily necessities. In recent years, vegetable has gained more importance and recognition for its healthy effect and environmentally friendliness. The so-called green food, natural food, mainly including vegetable and cereals have become more appealing to the public.Then, please look at some Chinese dishes names.番茄汁填鸭         Stuffed Duck with Tomato Sauce口水鸡             Steamed Chicken with Chili Sauce贵妃鸡             Chicken Wings and Legs with Brown Sauce东坡肉             Braised Dongpo Pork蚂蚁上树           Sautéed Vermicelli with Spicy Minced Pork蛋黄狮子