A Functional Equivalence Perspective To The Study Of English Versions Of Food Names Translation In Hongloumeng

Dietary culture is an important part of the cultural content in Hongloumeng. At present, English versions of Hongloumeng have been studied from different perspectives. Scholars have made great contributions to the translation of dietary culture.The author of this thesis tends to apply "functional equivalence" theory proposed by Eugene A. Nida as theoretical guide, Hongloumeng and its four English versions:Joly’s version, Bonsall’s version, Hawkes’version and Yangs’version as objects for analyzing. Putting stress on the perspective of dietary culture, comparing those versions, this thesis tries to explore the translating methods and characteristics of the food names in Hongloumeng.Functional Equivalence is the translation theory proposed by American theorist Nida. He holds that translating consists in producing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. The receptor language readers respond to the translations should be in substantially the same manner as the receptors in the source language.This thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter contains mainly three parts. One is the introduction of Hongloumeng, its four English versions and their source versions, significance and method of the thesis; second part gives a retrospective study on the translation of dietary content of Hongloumeng; third part deals with the theory background of the thesis------functional equivalence, its definition and nature. The second chapter is the outline of food names in Hongloumeng according to the classification of staple food, dishes, soups and desserts. The third chapter is the qualitative analyses. To assort the food names by the method:(1) concerning making materials (pure staple material, staple material+food type, condiment material+staple material, shape, color or taste+staple material, etc.)(2) concerning cooking techniques (cooking technique+staple material, staple material+cooking technique+staple material, condiment material+cooking technique+staple material),(3) concerning allusion (time, place, festival, etc.) According to the classification, using the theory of functional equivalence, some typical food names will be chose to conduct qualitative analyses. And the author will give each food name the translating methods of the four English versions. The fourth chapter is the quantitative analyses. On the basis of horizontal and longitudinal analyses, this thesis will summarize the translation methods and characteristics of the food names of the four English versions, namely, by staple material primarily, condiment material is auxiliary, by cooking technique is primarily, staple material is auxiliary, by shape, color or taste primarily, staple material is auxiliary, by food type primarily, staple material or cooking technique is auxiliary, using Chinese pinyin or transliteration, etc. The last chapter is the conclusion, which summarizes the main points in the previous chapters.Through the comparison of the four English versions, this thesis comes to the conclusions:1. Comparing the formations of Chinese food names with the translations of Hawkes’ version and Yangs’version, the author explores that:the translations of Yangs’version are guided by the original text, retaining a large amount of Chinese culture; while the translations of Hawkes’version widely differ from the original text, paraphrasing a lot of Chinese culture.2. On the basis of the comparison of the four English versions in all the formations of food names, the translations of Yangs are the closest to the formations of Chinese food names, and Bonsall’s translations are secondary. In many cases the translating methods between Bonsall’s version and Yangs’version are similar. Both place special emphasis on promoting Chinese culture through the reproduction of the value of the original culture. On the contrary, the translations of Joly’s version and Hawkes’ version are greatly different from the formations of Chinese food names, which shows that Joly and Hawkes focus on using native language thinking pattern.3. The translations of food names of the four versions are mostly consistent with their translation strategies.4. The translations of food names of the four versions are influenced by their native cultural background and translation strategies. The effect of their native cultural background balances the influence of their translation strategies.