A Study On English Translation Of Culture-loaded Words Of Food Culture From The Perspective Of Eco-Translatology

With the close communication between foreign countries and China, in order to make the foreigners understand the five-thousand-year history of China more deeply, and what’s more, for the purpose of cultural exchanges, our country has made lots of large-scale documentaries to broadcast on CCTV channels, including documentaries of Chinese food culture. These documentaries of Chinese food culture have been translated into English and spread Chinese food culture to the whole world. Therefore, the studies on the translation of culture-loaded words of food culture (CWF for abbreviation) are attached importance. However, most of the studies on translation of CWF are mainly from the perspectives of cross-communication, cultural context or just focuses on the translation methods. The single perspective can not cope with the effect and limitation of translation caused by complicated, diverse cultural elements. Therefore, to search for a theory or method to guide and study culture-loaded words’translation from multiple dimensions and levels is a big trend in translation field. Professor Hu Gengshen from Tsinghua University puts forward Eco-translatology, which can solve the problem from some extent.Eco-translatology is to explore translation from the perspective of ecology, which takes the basic principle of Biological Evolution as its cornerstone, such as "natural selection","survival of the fittest", etc. It studies the translation from multiple dimensions and levels. The translation process under eco-translatology can be concluded into:the translator’s adaptation and the translator’s selection. On the one hand, the translator needs to make selective adaptation to the translational eco-environment; on the other hand, under the premise that the adaptation to the translational eco-environment and the acceptance of restricts from the translational eco-environment, the translator makes adaptive selection achieving the holistic translation. Based on the theoretical framework of eco-translatology, the thesis employs qualitative analysis and case analysis, taking the English translation of CWF of food documentaries into analysis to explore the translator’s adaptation and selection. After study, it is found:(1) CWF translation is a complex process, which needs the translator to make multiple adaptations to translational eco-environment and then make selections based on that adaptation. It needs the translator making adaptation to the translational eco-environment from multiple dimensions, and then making selection based on adaptation.(2) Source language, target viewers and subtitle, etc. form the translational eco-environment, which restricts the translator’s selection. The linguistic forms of CWF are various and the cultural connotations of them are rich, which require the translator not only to adapt to the linguistic forms but also to reach the communicative goal, which is to spread traditional Chinese food culture. The translator needs to take the global audiences with different cultural background into consideration and try to avoid cultural shock as possible. The translations of CWF serve as the subtitle, which requires the translator to adapt to the time and space of the subtitle, making the translation brief and understandable.(3) The translator flexibly adopts different translation methods (literal translation, transliteration and free translation) and translation strategies (addition, adaptation, annotation, free rendering and imitation) to realize the multi-dimensional transformations on linguistic and communicative dimensions. The translator selects translation methods from lexical level and rhetorical level in linguistic dimension. On lexical level, in order to keep the equivalence of the linguistic forms and meaning of the CWF, the translator frequently adopts literal translation and transliteration. When the linguistic forms and meaning of the CWF can not be maintained at the same time, the translator selects free translation to keep the equivalence in meaning of CWF. In communicative dimension, in order to meet the communicative goal, the translator flexibly selects addition, adaptation, annotation, free rendering and imitation to make transformations.(4) The mistranslations arise due to the translator’s failure in judging the concrete translational eco-environment and then making improper adaptation and selection. Therefore, the translator needs to enhance the awareness of eco-translatology and give play of subjectivity.Practice proves that the translation under eco-translatology can make the foreigners with different cultural background perceive Chinese culture more deeply and readily. What’s more, to apply eco-translatology to study the English translation of CWF will provide a new angle for the translation of food culture.