Foreignization And Domestication In Chinese Menu Translation

China is a country which has a long history and boasts a variety of cuisines with distinct features. With the increasing communication between people from home and abroad, more and more foreign people are interested in Chinese cuisine. In this regard, translation concerning cuisine culture shoulders heavy responsibility, and will undoubtedly play an important part and make its due contribution to the overall cause of promoting prosperous exchange and friendship between China and other nations. So the translation of Chinese menus is of great significance. However, the study of cuisine has not been taken seriously and published researches of this field are countable. There lacks of uniformed and standardized translation in Chinese menu.The thesis first briefly introduces the research background, research objectives and methodology and then provides a historical review of literal translation and free translation, foreignization and domestication and the differentiation between these two couples of terms. Also, the relevant studies on Chinese menu translation are summarized. The author also focuses on the translation of Chinese menu, including the definition, standards and problems in existing Chinese menu translation. Then the causes are explored to arouse the question of translatability of Chinese menu. Moreover, the characteristics of Chinese cuisine and dish names are centered on. As translation is as inter-cultural communication, some translation principles are put forward and foreignization and domestication are applied in Chinese menu translation, in which the concrete approaches such as literal translation, free translation and zero translation, etc. are suggested in details. In the end there comes the conclusion, in which the author makes a summary and discusses the significance and the limitations of the present study, develops the suggestions for further study in this field.This thesis attempts to analyze the characteristics of Chinese dish names and put forward several applicable approaches in order to resolve the current confusion in menu translation within the Chinese service industry. It makes a comparatively detailed study of the two translation strategies of domestication and foreignization in Chinese menu translation and concludes that foreignization strategy, which is mainly achieved by the literal translation or zero translation methods, is more advisable and is becoming a trend in the current English translation of Chinese menu.