Translating Sichuan Cuisine From Cultural Horizon

As one of the most renowned and time-honored local flavors, Sichuan cuisine not only shows the unique charm of its cookery, but also is the carrier of colorful folk culture of Sichuan and one of eye-catchers of Chinese culture.In the light of cultural translation theories of Susan Bassnett’s, translation strategies of foreignization and domestication, this thesis is a probe into translations of Sichuan cuisine. A comparative analysis regarding the great differences between Chinese and Western food culture is presented, followed by an illustration of characteriatcis of the naming art of Chinese dishes are illustrated, including the complicated basis of naming, preferance for rhetorics and rich cultural connotations implied. After introducing Sichuan’s unique regional features and the rich cultural connotations contained in the dish names, some problems existing in the translation of Sichuan cuisine are discussed, such as misused terms, misunderstanding of the meanings of dishes, under-translation of cultural elements contained, overuse of literal translation and rigid translation. Then practical translation principles to address these issues are put forward from the perspective of cultural translation, namely, reserving the differences, seeking common ground, accurately conveying the information of dish names, employing terse expressions as much as possible and keeping an eye on the aesthetic feeling. Related translation methods are suggested, including1) literal translation for descriptive dish names,2) transliteration plus literal translation/literal translation plus explanation of local flavors,3) visualized translation/transliteration plus literal translation (with notes) for the translation of semi-visualized dish names,4) literal translation plus free translation (with notes) plus pictures for the translation of totally artistic dish names,5) free translation for visualized "new-fashioned" dish names.