On C-E Translation Of Chinese Menu From The Perspective Of Cultural Differences

The Chinese cuisine culture which is profound and well established, has a long history and enjoys a very high reputation in the whole world. As a thread going through the long history of Chinese cuisine culture, Chinese dish names in menu not only reflect the variety of ingredients, cookeries, inventors, original places, but also contain much cultural elements such as the colors, aromas, tastes, and appearances of the dishes. Yet by viewing the current Chinese menu translation, it is not difficult to find out that the most serious mistakes in menu interpreting and translating are usually not the result of verbal inadequacy, but of wrong cultural assumptions. Therefore, this paper tries to focus on the systemic research of Chinese menu translation from the cross-cultural perspective. After giving the theory of culture and translation, the author sums up the impacts of cultural barriers on Chinese menu translation, and on the basis of that, putting forward specific translation strategies, namely, literal translation and free translation. The translators should flexibly apply these techniques according to dish names' cultural connotations. All in all, studying the Chinese menu translation from the perspective of cultural differences will play a significant role in promoting the interaction among peoples of different nations, especially the communication of cuisine culture.