On The C-E Translation Of Chinese Food Manuals From The Perspective Of Functional Translation Theory

The thesis’ aim is to research the C-E translation of Chinese Food Manuals fromthe Perspective of Functional Translation Theory. China is an ancient country whosefood culture has a long history. With the rapid development of economy, especiallyafter China joining the WTO, more and more Chinese do business with foreigners,and Chinese foods step into international market day by day. Among the export foods,many have English translations of Chinese food manuals to instruct the foods’features and there emerge a large number of excellent translations. Those translationshave left a deep impression to foreign consumers and have good publicity to theChinese food culture. However, there are also a lot of low quality translations. Due tolanguage barriers and cultural differences, many foreign readers find it difficult tounderstand the cultural factors in the food guide. Some translators also do notconsider the target readers’ acceptation level of background knowledge, language,habits and aesthetic tendencies, so they translate the food manuals literally. As a result,the quality of the translation is not ideal.Thus, it is an urgent and necessary job to change the present situation of the C-Etranslation of Chinese Food Manuals and to improve the English translation quality.The purpose of the translation is to minimize and eliminate its negative impact onproduct sales and the dissemination of Chinese food culture. And translators have theresponsibility to realize the important task of promoting Chinese culture and improvethe quality of English translation of Chinese food manuals, in order to ensure thequality of the Chinese version and enhance a proper English version for the targetreaders．This thesis is consist of6chapters．Part I is the introduction, a brief description of the purpose, significance andstructural arrangements of the study. Its aim is to prove that the theoretical andpractical guidance function of functional translation theory in the C-E translation ofChinese food manuals. Right now, there are some common problems which could befound in the C-E translation. So, it is a great significance for us to take a study on theC-E translation of Chinese food manuals from the perspective of functionaltranslation theory.Part II is the literature review of functional translation theory. This section summarizes the translation theory background, origin and development. Itsummarized the theoretical background and its origin and development process of thefunctional translation theory. It includes three different stages and those achievementsabout the research.Part III is an analysis to current study about English translations of the Chinesefood manuals. In this part the English writing style for food manuals and culturalcharacteristics are analyzed. Then it gives a review probing into the situation atpresent and the significance about the research. In this thesis it also makes acomparative research about the different writing style and differences of culturebetween Chinese and English food manuals. The Chinese food text of the instructionis much more descriptive in the form, much more elegant in the style and much richerin the cultural connotations. However, the English food text of the instruction is muchmore narrative in the form，plainer in the style and much more specific in theinformation conveyance. And there also exist many psychological differences, manyvalue differences and many aesthetic differences in culture between Chinese andEnglish food manuals.Part IV describes the research methodology and data collection. It introduces themethods of research and collection of the data adopted. The thesis is in the category ofthe qualitative research. It carries out a deep textual analysis of the Chinese foodmanuals from the perspective of functional translation theory. And it makes a deepcontrastive analysis between Chinese and English food manuals. And also, in thisthesis, it adopts the functional and the culture-oriented approaches.Part V introduces three text functions, including informative function, expressivefunction and vocative function. And it proposes a principle of "faithfulness","expressiveness" and "appropriateness". In the thesis,“faithfulness” means that itshould convey true original text information to the target translation text. And“expressiveness” means that it should be brief, clear and also intelligible in thetranslated version. And “appropriateness” means that it should be suitable for thetranslated version readers of the target text, and then realizes the purpose. Under thefunctional translation theory, these factors determine the choices of translationstrategy: the purpose of translation (or the initiator, the translator’s intent), the reader’sexpectations, text type and functions of translation and so on. Then it analyzes that thefactors have impact to English translation of the food manuals, including that thepurpose of translation is an extremely important and crucial factor for the purpose is the decision of translation.Part VI is an analysis with examples from the perspective of functionaltranslation theory. This part illustrates that functional translation theory is a guide forEnglish translation of Chinese food manuals, and proposes a set of translationmethods, including addition, deletion, explication, domestication and adaptation.There abundant examples illustrated in this part. Functional translation method hasgreater freedom and flexibility, so translator can translate freely according to thepurpose and select the appropriate translation method. Thus, the intention of thetranslation initiator could be fulfilled.Part VII is the conclusion of the thesis. It makes a summary, and specifies thedeficiencies and subsequent study of this thesis. It has great practical significance forthis thesis. The author proposes a set of translation principles and methods to provideguidance for English translation of Chinese food manuals. The ultimate goal of thisthesis is to promote the translator to improve the quality of translation, and create anexcellent target text to attract the customers. However, it also has some limitations forthe thesis and it needs further study for this issue. Therefore, the translators shouldcontinue to explore new translation theory and strategy to solve the problems inEnglish translation practice of Chinese food manual.