A Study Of The English Translation Of Chinese Dish Names From The Perspective Of Intercultural Communication

Chinese dish names can reflect unique Chinese food culture.They are full of distinctive linguistic and cultural features.They not only reflect the basic information of a dish,such as the ingredients,the cooking methods,the flavors,the colors and the appearance,but also contain a number of cultural connotations.Therefore,the effective transmission of Chinese food culture to the western countries is tightly connected with the proper English translation of Chinese dish names in a large degree.This thesis aims to study the English translation of Chinese dish names from the perspective of intercultural communication,find out the factors in intercultural communication which affect the English translation of Chinese dish names and put forward some corresponding translation methods so as to promote the food intercultural communication.This thesis consists of five parts.In part one,literature review is presented in terms of cultural translation and English translation of Chinese dish names.In part two,the theoretical support for the study—intercultural communication theory is introduced and the relationship between translation and intercultural communication is discussed.In part three,an overview of Chinese dish names is made.In part four,case study of the English translation of Chinese dish names is presented from the perspective of the four factors in intercultural communication.In part five,some proper translation methods are put forward on the basis of the related analysis.Through the study,the author finds out the four factors in intercultural communication: experiential-cultural equivalence,high-context culture and low-context culture,cultural vacancy and sociolinguistic transfer,which have an influence on the English translation of Chinese dish names.On the basis of it,the author proposes the corresponding translation methods as follows: first,under the circumstances that Chinese food culture shares some similar cultures and experience with the western food culture,literal translation can be used to deal with the fact-telling dish names;second,for the dish names which contain historical backgrounds or cultural allusions,in order to realize the successful transfer from high-context culture to low-context culture,annotation can be utilized in the combination of literal translation,free translation and transliteration;third,for the dish names with the metaphors which may cause cultural vacancy,transliteration plus annotation should be used in order to bridge the cultural vacancy;fourth,for the dish names which contain the associative meanings of some auspicious words,free translation plus annotation should be used to deal with the negative sociolinguistic transfer.Through the above study,this thesis is expected to improve the translators' intercultural communication awareness in the English translation of Chinese dish names and the corresponding translation methods are expected to supplement the existing translation methods for Chinese dish names.