福建省光泽第一中学高中英语教师论文 从跨文化(9)

cultural connotations have been totally abandoned, and only the primitive forms of cooking methods with ingredients are retained. It is intolerable in the era of inter-comm unication. Cultural factors, as ess ence of the national identity, reflect the disposition, association and imagination of the ST, which deserve high respect. So, no matter how troublesome the cultural differences stand in the process of translating, the translator has no authority to disregard them. Therefore, literal translation plus explanation can be a good choice in coping with many dish names. However, in the actual translating course, these techniques may be applied flexibly to tackle a problem. The translator may sometimes use a single technique, sometimes combine two techniques or add further information for the translation of a dish name.

The writer classifies the Chinese dish names into five groups, i.e. self-descriptive names, names with metaphors, names after a person/place, names with literary images and auspicious names. The most suitable techniques of each sub-group are discussed and the versions will be suggested in light of the discussed principles.

3.1 Literal Translation

As stated in the previous chapter, most of the Chinese dishes are names after cooking methods, cooking utensils, ingredients, etc. and this kind of fact-telling dish names may be translated word-by-word. Examples are as follows:

1) Major ingredient(s)

西瓜鸡Chicken in Wate rmelon

松子黄鱼Yellow croaker with pine nuts

虾仁海参Sea Cucumber with Shrimps

鲜菇肉片Fresh mushrooms and sliced pork

2) Cooking method(s)+major ingredient(s)

炸春卷Fried Spring Roll

烤乳猪Roast Piglet

清蒸武昌鱼Steamed Wuchang Bream

白灼虾Quick-Scalded Fresh Shrimp

3) Cooking method(s)+major ingredient(s)+with/in+ condiments

红烧牛尾Braised Ox Tail with Brown Sauce

铁板黑椒雪鱼Fried Cod Fish with Black Pepper

水煮肉片Poached Pork in Pungent Sauce

酒烤香肠Roast Sausage in Wine

3.2 Giving up the Metaphor and Translating the Reality

Besides the color and taste, Chinese dishes also pay a lot attention to presentation. People like to use metaphors to describe dishes in order to give the eaters a vivid image. By giving ordinary dishes beautiful names, the dishes become more attractive and diners are happy. For example, in dish names Chinese people like to compare chicken to phoenix, call snake or prawn dragon, and substitute tiger for cat. In addition to this, there are many places in China which hold their own bynames, such as Chongqing City also named Mountain City. When these names are used in the dish names, they more than not come out in the form of bynames. Popular Chinese idioms